Forbidden
by H.Skye
Summary: The Vause and Chapman families have been rivals for years. Opposite ends of the social hierarchy. Alex is a Vause. Piper is a Chapman. Their worlds have collided, but who they are could tear them apart. Can they ever be together? Loosely based on Romeo and Juliet.
1. Chapter 1

**So this just came to my head the other day and I wrote it there and then, not sure if it'll be any good, but it's loosely based on Romeo and Juliet! Anyway, review and let me know if you think I should go on with it and if it's a good idea or not. Enjoy! H xo**

**Chapter 1 - Vause vs Chapman**

Alex Vause was mysterious. To Piper Chapman, she was a beautiful stranger, a passer-by who she knew absolutely nothing about except that her locker was three along from hers, and that they only crossed each other's paths at college on a Tuesday and a Friday. Not that Piper counted. All she wanted to do was say hey, to get to know her. But Piper did know one thing about her - she was a Vause. And Piper was a Chapman.

Ever since she was young, Piper would hear talk about the Vause family. Her father, Bill Chapman, had been rivals with brother and sister Jack and Diane Vause since he can remember, the same rivalry with his parents and theirs and so on, because of a family feud that apparently went back years between the families. Piper and her brother Callum had always tried to guess what the cause of the feud was, that it was maybe some street fight between the families like in West Side Story, or a robbery or murder, but their dad always just said it was because of 'differences'. Piper didn't think her dad even knew himself. In the Chapman household, The Vause family were the 'lower class family', always referred to as 'troublesome', 'nasty', the family to avoid, the family that people like the Chapmans did not associate themselves with. When Piper started college and discovered Alex Vause was also starting, she immediately knew she would be told to avoid her at all costs, and her mother made sure to remind her not to hang around Alex or any of her friends, because she was trouble. Trouble was something Piper was not associated with, she was a good girl, a daddy's girl, the girl who kept her head down and got good grades and was always home before her curfew. But part of Piper wanted to experience something different, something rebellious, daring and exciting, adventurous. That was exactly what Alex Vause was associated with. Danger, trouble, adventure. Piper had heard from others that at school, Alex and her friends were known for skipping class, getting caught smoking in the toilets, hanging out on the streets late at night, graffiti-ing private property, pulling pranks on anyone that pissed them off, even spending a night in a prison cell. They were known for being bad, and to Piper, it just seemed like they were having fun, without a care in the world, and she wanted to know what that felt like.

On the days Piper walked past Alex, she would attempt to make eye contact with her so maybe she could aim a smile at her. But if Alex's eyes did catch Piper's it was only for few split seconds before darting them away again, grabbing her books, slamming her locker shut and walking off down the corridor, disappearing into the crowd of students. She definitely knew Piper was a Chapman, and she probably hated her. Alex would never dream of speaking to her, and so why did Piper bother? Because there was something magnetising about Alex Vause, something that pulled Piper towards her, and she wished it didn't, but it did.

* * *

It was a Tuesday afternoon; Piper had just finished class and stood at her locker, rummaging through it for her lunch card.

'Where are you where are you- There you are!' she whispered loudly to herself, snatching the card and shutting the locker door, only to be greeted with the presence of Alex Vause, stood at her own locker. Only this time, Alex was staring at her. She must've heard Piper talking to herself._ How embarrassing. _

Alex was leaning against her open locker, one eyebrow raised as if amused, hugging a folder to her chest. Her black rimmed glasses were on the top of her head, pushing back long, glossy raven hair. She wore tight black jeans and a band tee of some sort with a hoodie, a black biker jacket on top. Piper had never looked into Alex Vause's eyes. They were a deep green, like the colour of evergreen trees. Piper loved that colour. She opened her mouth to say something but she was nervous, how she always felt when she saw Alex, and couldn't think of the words to say. Before she could, Nicky Nichols appeared behind Alex and slapped her on the back. Alex turned her head, letting out a husky 'Shit, Nichols!'

'What?! I gotta get in the lunch queue early. It's taco day.'

Alex chuckled as they walked off together, leaving Piper speechless, stood staring after the two girls. They were always together and she sometimes felt jealous of their friendship. Sure, she had Polly, but those two had a different kind of friendship to what Piper had with her friends. They had banter, which Polly just didn't get.

'What you looking at, Piper?'

Piper turned to see Larry, Pete and Polly stood together laughing at her.

'Huh?'

'You're always daydreaming aren't you pipes' Larry smiled.

'Come on Pipes, we're not gonna get a seat at lunch' Polly giggled.

* * *

'I'm telling you, Mr. Steele used to be a quarterback!'

'That butterball?! That's the funniest shit I've ever heard Laz!'

Piper sat at the lunch table with her friends, bored of the same old dumb, boring sports conversations between Larry and Pete, watching Polly apply even more powder to her face. Piper sighed and shoved another mouthful of yoghurt into her mouth, leaning her head on one hand.

'Piper, do you think we should go to Annie's party tomorrow night? Like I dunno if I can be bothered. She bores me and her breath smells. I can't imagine what her party would be like.'

'Lame, probably.' Pete laughed, stuffing his face with a taco, sauce dripping down his chin.

'You're disgusting.' Polly frowned.

'What?'

'She's right Pete, you're a pig'

Larry punched Pete on the shoulder, who in turn knocked Piper's hand, her spoon falling to the floor.

'For God's sake Pete!' Piper whined. 'I was enjoying that damn yoghurt!'

'Sorry Piper!'

Before she could bend down to get it, a hand placed it back in front of her. Alex Vause. Piper blushed and gulped, that nervous feeling in her stomach again, unsure of what to say.

'Uh- thanks' she mumbled, picking up the spoon, looking into Alex's eyes again.

Alex half smiled and carried on walking to follow her friends.

'Boy, she's hot.' Pete exclaimed a bit too loudly.

'hey!' Polly slapped his hand.

'Sorry babe. You gotta agree she's got a good ass!'

'Yeah that's about all she's got.'

'You know what's even hotter?' Larry leaned in, 'her and that Nicky girl are _definitely_ lesbian together!' he smirked.

'No way!' Pete let out an annoying laugh.

'She seems cool.' Piper muttered.

'Are you kidding pipes? You know how much your family hate hers. It's just as well, she's dodgy, and so is her little gang. Nicky is in my class and she hardly ever turns up, it's pointless them even being here, wasting everyone else's time. And you know what I don't know what they get up to in their free time but I surely wouldn't wanna be involved.' Polly said, neatly placing her makeup purse back into her bag and pulling her hair into a ponytail.

'Criminal shit.' Pete said, mouth full of his third taco. Polly nodded.

'How do you know that?' Piper asked.

'Please. It's obvious!'

'Poll, we don't even know them. Don't you think it's kinda wrong to make those assumptions just because our parents stereo type them as all the same?'

'Yeah. Bad ass lesbians.' Larry said with his hands imitating air quotes.

'So fascinating right Piper?' Pete winked, putting his hand round her jokingly and squeezing her.

Piper blushed slightly and wriggled out of his grip. 'Not really Pete.' She half laughed, trying to cover the fact that she totally agreed. Alex Vause _was_ fascinating. And she had actually acknowledged Piper today. All she did was pick up her spoon, but that was something, right?

* * *

**I Read this over and it looks like a pile of trash tbh haha. So let me know if you like it and if I should carry this on? Thank you guys! xoxo**


	2. Chapter 2

**Hey guys , so thanks for the positive reviews to carry this story on. i'm hoping its a bit different! I also am having a bit of trouble with my other fic, so, sorry if you're waiting for the next chapter on that one! Anyway here's a short update for this story, enjoy! xo**

Chapter** 2- Work hard, Play hard**

The library was packed, which was typical on the one afternoon Piper had stayed late to get work done. Her friends had all gone home at normal time, but Piper always went the extra mile to ensure her work would be up to the best standard. She couldn't remember a time when she hadn't done that. Trekking up the fourth flight of stairs, hoping there would be a study space on this floor, Piper ran a hand through her blonde hair to push it off her face when she spotted a free chair. She walked briskly and dumped her stuff on the desk, looking around to see a few people raise their heads because the sound her files and large books made echoed through the silent room. She clenched her teeth and mouthed 'sorry' at the people next to her, sitting down, opening up a text book and putting her head down. An hour passed by with no disturbance, which Piper loved. She enjoyed the quiet, peaceful atmosphere. A time when she could clear her head, too.

The sound of some one taking the seat next to her and dropping their books caused Piper to flinch and look to the side without fully turning her head. She could now hear the muffled sound of drum and bass music playing from earphones, and she tapped her pen in annoyance. She huffed, and sharply turned her head ready to give who ever it was a scowl, and there, leaning back on her chair, one earphone in an ear, some novel covering half her face, was Alex Vause. Piper blushed and when Alex's eyes looked up from her book at, she quickly turned her head back down to look at her textbook, only this time the words were jumbled up and didn't make sense because all she saw in her head were Alex Vause's eyes. She felt those green eyes burning the back of her skull, but she tried to stay still and not turn back. Alex clearly wanted nothing to do with her, or she would have said something by now.

'You've been on that cover page for the last 20 minutes.'

Piper felt the blood rush to her head at the sound of a smooth, husky voice, and she could tell Alex had a smirk on her face without even turning around. _Ignore her, she's just taking the piss._ But Piper turned around anyway.

'Excuse me?' she whispered.

'I'm just saying. You were on that page when i arrived. 20 minutes later you haven't read anything more than the publisher name and the author's note.' Alex placed her book down and took the earphone out her ear.

'I-' Piper's words trailed off, Alex was right. She hadn't turned a page or written a fucking thing since she had arrived.

Alex chuckled and began putting her files into her rucksack. 'Sorry, i'm just a really observant person. You're Piper Chapman, right?'

'Yeah. You're Alex Vause.'

'Correct.' She said sarcastically. It was obvious that they both already knew each others names. 'You know, my uncle did say that Chapmans work the hardest at college, except i think you're letting them down on that front.' She curved her lips into a smile, glancing down at the open book still on the same page and Piper abruptly closed it.

'No. i'm finished on this one anyway.'

'Right.' Alex smirked, standing up.

'It's 7 o'clock on a Friday night. You know you should probably be out at some party with your yuppie friends.'

Piper had the nervous feeling in her stomach again. Alex was actually talking to her, and it wasn't how she expected.

'I could say the same to you.'

'Nah, tonight was my study night. But i'm off to a party now. As i said. It's a fucking friday night.'

Piper smiled, eyes scanning Alex's face. She was really beautiful.

'Well i study most nights and i've never seen you in the library.'

Alex raised a finely plucked eyebrow. 'Well, you know. Work hard, Play hard. Maybe you should remember that. See you round..._Chapman_.' Alex emphasised Piper's last name, slinging her rucksack round one shoulder, and walking off without another word.

_Play hard. _Those words whirled round Piper's head, and she began packing up her things. She usually would stay another 2 hours or so, but now all she wanted to do was go out, get drunk, have fun. Because that's what Alex would be doing, and if there was one thing Piper had heard, it was that Alex Vause knew how to party.

Piper walked fast on her way home, something felt good about ditching her study plans to go out. It surprised her that one conversation with Alex had that much of an effect on her. She took her phone out her back pocket and texted Polly.

**Piper: i've changed my mind. let's go to Annie's party!**

**Polly: Really? thought u were studying!**

**Piper: Nah, tonight was my study night. But i wanna party now**

**Polly: Ha! okay, well come round mine and we can start drinking ;)**

**Piper: See you in a bit!**

* * *

**Sorry it was short, but i'm working on the next chapter now and it'll be longer! Thanks for the follows and favourites, let me know what you think of this chapter! H xo**


	3. Chapter 3

**Update! Glad you guys are enjoying it so far, thanks for the follows and favourites, and continue to let me know how you think it's going! H xo**

**Chapter 3 – Not Just a Chapman**

Piper and Polly had drank just enough alcohol to be able to speak confidently to any guy they were about to meet, but not so much that they couldn't stumble their way to Annie's house. To Polly's surprise, the house was full of people, mostly college students that Piper recognised, all drunk and dancing to loud dubstep music that rang in her ears. She pulled down the tight blue dress she immediately had regretted putting on, it kept sliding too far up her legs. If her mom or dad saw her wearing this she wouldn't live to see another day.

'Wow! this party is actually amazing Pipes!' Polly slurred her words, falling into Pete's arms who had come to the door to greet them.

'I was gonna say do you guys want another drink! But I think Poll has had enough for now!' He shouted over the music.

'Yeah, I'll have another. I'll wait here, take her with you please!' Piper laughed, enjoying watching Pete struggle with his girlfriend who was now smothering him with kisses that he nearly fell back onto the sofa.

'Right. Come on Poll. Be back in a sec!'

Piper scanned the room as she stood in the corner, for anyone she might know. There were stains already on the cream carpet, and people were everywhere, laying on the sofas, sat all the way up the stairs, using the kitchen as a mosh pit zone. Piper didn't want to know what Annie's parents would say when they found the state their house was in.

'Hey there, I'm gonna be honest. You're fucking beautiful.' Piper turned to see a red faced drunk jock, towering over her. He moved his hand to her hip, and she laughed nervously, pushing it away. She realised she wasn't quite drunk enough to flirt back with a sleazy stranger nor give him what he clearly was looking for.

'Uh- thank you. I'm just gonna go see where my friend is.' She pushed past him and weaved through the maze of dancing students, towards the kitchen where Pete would be.

Piper was passing the stairs when a random girl fell back into her, pushing her against the bannister, and for a few moments she stayed there on the floor, head spinning. With one hand on the bannister she yanked herself up, and then once she achieved balance standing up, leant to pull down her dress again. She was just about to slip her heels off when all of a sudden, from nowhere, a familiar face flew into sight and came inches close to hers. Two arms slammed onto the wall she was leaning against and were positioned either side of her shoulders, just stopping their heads from clashing.

_Alex Vause._ Their eyes locked, and suddenly everything else around them was a blur, as if in slow motion. Alex stared deep into Piper's sky blue eyes, and Piper studied Alex's evergreen irises. She even noticed there were tiny flecks of hazel in them. After a few seconds that felt like minutes, the green eyes unlocked themselves from Piper's and moved down to her body, right to her feet, and back up to her face.

Piper broke from the trance she was in, clearing her throat, and Alex dropped her hands back by her side into her jacket pockets.

'Sorry. I got pushed.' She looked around the room.

'It's okay.' Piper said, being the one to scan Alex's body up and down now. She stood so casually but to watch her was somehow entrancing.

'Wanna get some fresh air? It's hot in here.' Without looking back, Alex pushed pass the drunken crowd that had just literally shoved her onto Piper, and she intuitively followed, feeling the magnetic attraction towards the brunette once again.

The air was cold and crisp, causing Piper to shiver and take in a sharp breath when it hit her exposed skin. The music became background as they stood in the quiet of the garden, only a few drunk people here and there talking amongst themselves.

Alex walked further on, sat on the steps of the patio and lit a cigarette, the hot orange glow about the only thing Piper could see past the light of the house. A few minutes passed before Piper realised she was still stood by the door, just watching Alex, who turned round.

'Aren't you gonna sit? I know we're meant to hate each other, but I don't bite. Most of the time.' She chuckled at her own joke, inhaling another puff of smoke and letting it escape out the corner of her mouth.

Piper shuffled across the patio and sat down awkwardly so as not to let her dress slide up too far, and she felt Alex's eyes on her legs, who smirked.

'Cold, huh?'

'A bit.'

'Guess you've gotta sacrifice warmth if you wanna look beautiful.'

Butterflies flew round Piper's stomach at those words and she didn't know how to respond.

'So. What do you study?' Alex continued.

'History.'

'Ah. Classic Chapman.'

'Is it really?' Piper smiled at the comment even though it probably wasn't a compliment. 'What do you study?'

'English literature.'

'Nice. I love literature. But my parents thought I was better off...' Piper didn't want to finish the sentence, her parents were the last thing she wanted to talk about with Alex right now, who broke the silence she had just created.

'Why do your parents make your choices for you?'

Piper watched Alex inhaling the cigarette smoke so gracefully, if that was even possible to do. 'I- they don't make my choices. They just have a big influence in my decision making.' She half laughed, but Alex didn't.

'That sucks. Life is what you make it, not what somebody else makes it. It's your life Chapman. You gotta start living it.' She let out a last puff of smoke before stubbing the cigarette on the ground and wrapping her arms tight round her body.

'Fuck its cold. You didn't even bring a jacket?'

'I don't know, I wasn't really thinking. I drank a bit too much before I came here and now I'm really regretting wearing this dress, plus the fact that it's way too small for me.' Piper laughed and Alex couldn't help but laugh along with her because her laugh was infectious, and they were both clearly comfortable in each other's company, even though there wasn't much conversation.

'Well. I think it's a very nice dress. And it looks expensive. This outfit I'm wearing, I wear all the time. At least you get a massive choice of party outfits. Bet you have a walk in wardrobe, am I right?'

Piper giggled, resting her chin on her knees that she hugged close to her chest. 'No! It's not that big. And I like your outfit. It suits you, your style. I would just look stupid.'

'Are you saying my choice of fashion is stupid?' Alex leant away from Piper, acting as if she was horrified.

'No! No I think it looks great, I'm just saying that I wouldn't pull it off-'

'Haha, I'm just messing with you.' She huddled herself closer to Piper who could see Alex's breath in the freezing air, and smell the strong scent of smoke infused with perfume on her leather jacket. Piper usually hated the smell of smoke but for some reason she suddenly didn't mind it. She liked it. They sat in silence for the next few minutes, watching the sky, a black velvet blanket scattered with diamonds.

'I love looking at the stars.' Piper said, eyes fixed on the galaxy above them.

'Same. They're amazing. My uncle knows pretty much all the constellations. He's such a nerd.' She laughed huskily. Alex then looked at Piper's smiling face, admiring her flawless skin and incredible bone structure.

'He must be really clever-' Piper looked back down to see Alex watching her tentatively, as if studying her or trying to read her mind. She opened her mouth but closed it again, noticing how pretty Alex's milky white skin looked in the moonlight.

'What?' she laughed nervously when Alex didn't say anything.

'I'm just trying to figure you out. You're not so bad for a Chapman, you know.'

'You're not so bad for a Vause.'

Alex let out a quiet laugh and looked away.

'What have you figured out about me?'

Alex looked up at the sky. 'That maybe you're not just a Chapman. Maybe you're just Piper.'

There was nothing Piper could do at that moment but smile a huge smile, showing her pearly white teeth, and Alex looked her in the eyes again.

'And maybe you're not just a Vause. Maybe you're just Alex.'

Their noses were almost touching, and Alex opened her mouth slightly to say something when loud footsteps behind them broke them apart.

'There you are Pipes! Where the fuck have ya been? I thought you wanted a drink!' Piper stood up.

'Sorry Pete. Where's Polly?'

'She's inside dancing. Come back inside, it's freezing! What the heck you been doing out here so long?'

He gestured her towards him.

'I was just-' Piper turned to where she had been sat, but Alex was nowhere to be seen. Confused, she looked around the garden and through the full length window of the kitchen where Pete had just come from. But she had disappeared. The mysterious, beautiful Alex Vause.

* * *

**Review and let me know how you think it was! Thanks for reading it, and just for the record I don't think i'm gonna end it exactly how Romeo and Juilet ends lol! That would be cruel! xo**


	4. Chapter 4

**Here's chapter 4, a longgggg one for you! Glad you guys are enjoying it. Let me know how you think this is going!**

**Chapter 4 - Destined for Prison**

It was Monday morning, Piper and Polly walked to college together as they did every day, unless they had different lecture times, although Piper often just used free time to study anyway. She couldn't stop thinking about Friday night, how Alex Vause had so easily crashed her way into Piper's life, literally. Her face, along with her deep husky voice had stayed in Piper's head all weekend. How can someone that she'd only just started talking to already have such an impact on her? It didn't matter, all Piper knew was that she was glad Alex had nearly knocked her out at that party.

As they walked up the stairs to their lectures, Polly's chatting was just background noise as Piper remembered their conversation before Alex had disappeared on Friday night. The words they had shared stuck in her mind like glue. As much as she wanted to desperately tell Polly about it who was ranting on about something dumb Pete had done, she decided to keep quiet because mentioning Alex to her friends would be risky in case her family somehow found out. Plus, she also knew Polly would give her a long, annoying lecture, she had already made her opinion on Alex clear. The other thing that went through Piper's mind over the weekend was the fact that she had never been so attracted to a woman before and didn't even know if Alex would think of her in that way. But oh, how she was wrong.

Alex had tried so hard at the beginning of the college year to avoid and ignore Piper Chapman. From what her family always told her, Piper was part of a waspy, yuppie, upper class white-picket-fence-lifestyle of a family. The very opposite to her own. She had imagined Piper as someone who would always get whatever she wanted from her well respected businessman father and her snobby socialite mother. Every day she had walked to her locker which was just by Piper's, she avoided any eye contact and just put her head down. But none of this meant she didn't find Piper incredibly and frustratingly beautiful. The day Piper had dropped that spoon, and had sat with her in the library, Alex thought it would still be easy to avoid her. But on the night of the party, she happened to fall into Piper after being pushed. After looking into those blue eyes, something told Alex she wouldn't be able to keep away any longer.

'I mean why does it have to be the straight, goody goody girl from an asshole family?' She had asked Nicky that night.

'It's always the ones you can't and _shouldn't_ have.' Nicky had replied.

When they had talked at the party, she discovered that Piper was not at all how she had expected. She was different. She wasn't like her stuck up family, she wasn't the way Alex's uncle and mother had always assumed she would be.

* * *

'How is she any different?'

'She just is, okay.'

'Whatever you say Alex. Just don't catch feelings. I don't want you to get yourself hurt, okay.'

Alex laughed sheepishly, pretending she wasn't all that bothered. 'Pfft, me? Get feelings for a straight girl? For a Chapman? You've gotta be kidding.'

'Right, exactly!' Nicky patted her on the back and looked around the corridor, soon to be filled with students. 'I'm gonna skip my second lecture and head out for an ice cream with Lorna and Daya. You in?'

'No, I've got to do this assignment.' Alex held up her English folders.

'Vause, lifes too short to-'

'No I really need to get it done, I've got so much of it left to write and it's due in tomorrow. As tempting as a double chocolate sundae sounds. Sorry Nick.'

Nicky held up her hands jokingly. 'Okay okay, your loss, boss. See ya later on. Ay, give me a buzz when you're free.'

Alex chuckled and nodded, rolling her eyes as she walked off towards the library.

* * *

Alex sat at a computer, reading the same line she had just typed over and over again, biting her pen, looking back and forth from the screen to her notes. She felt a tap on her shoulder and she turned, no one there.

'Hey!' A familiar voice made her jump, and she turned the other way. _Piper._ As usual, Alex was mesmerised by her looks, the way she curved those amazing lips into a cute little smile, the way her face lit up, it made Alex feel a weird sensation she had never felt before.

'Hey yourself.'

Piper had plucked up the courage to speak to Alex for once, seeing as any contact had so far been initiated by the brunette. She was worried maybe Alex wouldn't want to talk to her, but what did she have to lose.

'You disappeared on me Friday.'

Alex squinted her eyes behind her glasses, unsure how to reply. 'I did.'

'What are you, like the disappearing woman now?'

Alex smiled, pushing her glasses to the top of her head. 'That's a terrible comparison.'

They laughed and Piper sat down next to her.

After an hour of not much work being done at all, only chatting, Alex and Piper were both so sure in their minds that they were different. They weren't Vause and Chapman, they were just Piper and Alex. And to them it made perfect sense.

'Man. I haven't done any work. I really need to get this assignment done.'

'Trying to get rid of me are you?' Piper teased.

'Haha, as if. I could talk to you all day and night.' Piper's smile dropped, mirroring Alex's expression, the butterflies in her stomach fluttering faster.

'Do you wanna meet here again? Tomorrow. You know, if you have any studying to do, which I'm guessing you do cause you always seem to be studying.'

'I-I would love to. Yeah.' Piper blushed and looked down at her book that she hadn't read a word of since she arrived. Alex was too much of a distraction. But she loved it.

'It seems to be the only time we can actually have a conversation without someone judging us. I'm not sure about your friends but, mine think you are kinda...'above' them.' She laughed quietly. 'And obviously, my mom and uncle wouldn't be too happy at all.'

'I'm sorry your friends feel that way.' Piper smiled, looking up from her book she wasn't reading.

'Piper!' Alex pushed her slightly, laughing. 'You know what I mean.'

'No, I know what you mean. My friends are the same, they don't know you. Neither do my family. They just think you're all the same.' She fiddled with her pen in her hands, and Alex put her hand on Piper's shoulder.

'Hey. It's all good. We'll be fine, we just gotta meet here every Monday and Wednesday. I would say Friday but you know that's my party night.' She smirked.

'Okay, okay. Every Monday and Wednesday. Piper and Alex study day.' She said enthusiastically, holding her hand out for a high five, which Alex complied with, giggling at her.

'Nothing like a bit of hard work.' She pointed at the computer screen, two lines typed out. They both laughed in sync, because all of a sudden their work didn't seem to matter.

Piper was so happy. Now she had the chance to spend time with Alex and no one would know, it was their little secret. The library became their place, where they could both escape from their lives for a few hours, and just spend time with each other. From then on, during lunch time and in between periods, Alex would walk past with her friends and briefly glance at Piper with that raised eyebrow thing she did, who would look straight back, but neither pretended they had acknowledged each other, only smiling to themselves when the short eye contact was broken. Their friend groups never even noticed, and it was actually exciting for Piper to be so secretive for once. To have something that no one else shared.

* * *

It was dinner time at the Chapman's, and not much conversation was there as usual. Just the sound of knives and forks clinking, and of Cal loudly chewing his food.

'Pass the gravy would you Cal?' Piper's Dad asked, her brother1 cooperated without speaking, knowing he would get in trouble if he spoke with his mouth open.

'How was your day darling? Did you get the car fixed?' Piper's mom asked.

Her dad went quiet and swallowed his food, pausing for a moment as if thinking of what to say. 'I had to take it to the Vause garage.'

Piper froze at the name her dad had just mentioned, but didn't look up from her food in case it showed on her face.

'You took it to the _Vause_ garage?!' Piper's mom emphasised the name as if it was a bad word, her voice slightly raised.

'Our usual garage in town was closed. I had no choice. I didn't want to, believe me. I'm not sure if I even trust that man with our car.'

'Oh Bill.'

'And what's worse, he actually had the nerve to charge me a ridiculous price for it! I refused to pay that. I said, if he thinks he's going to charge me that to get my car fixed at that garage, he's got another thing coming. So I took the car. I wasn't going to give that man a single cent.'

'Oh you didn't have another argument did you? You know he isn't worth it!'

'He just gets to me, you know! He thinks that just because he owns that damn cheap garage that he can charge what he likes.'

'Well I'm just glad he didn't get the chance to damage the car.'

'If he did that he would have a damn lawsuit on his hands! Besides, I threatened to tell everyone how awful his garage is and get it closed down.' He chuckled, serving himself another slice of beef. Piper felt anger brewing up inside her. She didn't want to hear anyone speak about the Vause family anymore. She thought of changing the subject, but her mom cut in.

'Good. He's a Vause. Something always gets damaged when that family is involved.'

'Then again, I suppose they need all the money they can get, none of that lot have worked hard enough to get a decent job.' Her dad laughed to himself again. Piper clenched her fists round her knife and fork and glared at her dad.

'True. I mean, Diane works at that diner, I would hate to know how little she earns. It's sad really, like a poverty cycle. Her mom used to work there, too. And her child will be serving burger and fries to our children and theirs, and so on.' Piper's mom took a smug sip of her red wine.

'It's because they spend their time in and out of prison cells rather than actually focusing on their work. It's dreadful.'

That was it. Piper couldn't take anymore of the shit coming out their mouths, and she snapped. 'Alex is actually doing English literature at college. She's really clever. I don't think she will be serving me burger and fries.' She almost regretted what she said, quickly taking another mouthful of meat so she didn't turn her defensive words into a speech about how amazing and intellectual Alex was.

Her parents went silent. Her dad wiped his mouth with a napkin.

'And how do you know what she does, Piper?' He put his elbows on the table and clasped his hands together, staring at her.

Piper shrugged. 'Just do.' She looked down.

'I hope you haven't been talking to her. That girl is trouble. Just as bad as her Uncle.'

'Right. The thousandth time I've heard that, dad.'

'Piper!' Her mom spat. 'Don't be rude. You don't ever speak to that girl. She's destined for prison that one.'

'How?! How is she destined for prison, if she is getting exactly the same grades as me at college?'

'It won't last long. She'll drop out. Just like every Vause fails at everything, and gives up. You are the one who is hard working Piper. You are the one who will have a successful career and a good income. While she spends her life working in a diner and getting into trouble with the cops.'

Piper threw down her knife and fork, her anger outburst shocking everyone at the table. 'God! You don't even know her, Dad! You're just being cruel. Just because her uncle and mom don't have the best jobs doesn't mean she will be the same. Just because your whole family have had some stupid, pathetic feud with theirs and she happens to be a Vause does not mean that she is a bad person! I'm sick of this!' She was shouting now, not realising how defensive she was being of Alex. But she knew her, and her parents didn't. They all glared at her and Cal's mouth dropped, looking at Piper awkwardly, clearly wanting to leave.

'Woah. Way to make things awkward Pipes. Um, can I leave the table now?'

Her parents both ignored her brother, eyes burning into hers. Her dad pointed a finger at her. 'Listen to me young lady. You are never to speak of her again. She is a bad influence. You are not to go near her. Do you hear me? If I _ever_ see you with her, if I so much as hear her name in this house again, all hell will break loose. And you will never set foot out of this house.'

Piper shrugged, and he slammed his fist down, causing the cutlery and plates to rattle, even causing her mother to jump. 'Do you hear me!' He yelled, face turning red.

'Yes!' Piper sunk into her chair. She hated it when her dad lost his temper, and talk of the Vause family really made it worse.

'Good.' He relaxed then, as if nothing had happened, and took a sip of his wine.

* * *

The holidays were fast approaching, and that meant no college library sessions with Alex. How was she supposed to see her outside of college? Now that her parents had specifically warned her about even mentioning her name? She decided the best thing was to tell Alex when she next sees her, decide together what they would do. But on Monday, Piper sat in their usual space in the library for a good hour, and Alex didn't turn up. She gave one last attempt at calling her, but it went straight to voicemail for the 10th time. She sighed. Maybe she's just forgotten.

_Didn't they tell us don't rush into things?_

_Didn't you flash your green eyes at me?_

_Haven't you heard what becomes of curious minds?_

Piper paused her ipod, the lyrics of a Taylor Swift song somehow reminding her of Alex. She stood up and left, a thousand thoughts whirling around her head about why Alex wouldn't turn up like this.

It didn't take Piper long to notice that Alex was avoiding her. She was a no show again on Wednesday, didn't reply to her texts, and completely blanked her when they walked past each other in the corridors, without even a smile, and it left Piper lost for words. Why was she doing this? It hurt Piper so much to be ignored by the one person she constantly craved attention from. She didn't know why but she had never wanted to spend time with anyone more than she did with Alex Vause.

* * *

It was Thursday afternoon, and Piper had just come out of a boring, tiring lecture when she saw the back of Alex, recognizing her biker jacket and the way she walked. She was walking alone, so Piper saw it as the perfect opportunity to confront her and so followed her into the girls bathroom where she was headed. It was empty, and Alex stood in front of the sink, applying eye liner in the mirror. Piper looked around to double check the room was empty, and stood behind Alex. Alex paused, looked in the mirror, seeing Piper behind her. But she didn't say anything, just threw her makeup back into her bag and slung it over her shoulder, turning to leave.

'Hey!' Piper grabbed her shoulder, causing her to whip around. She frowned.

'What?' She said this with such sullen expression and Piper felt her heart wrench.

'Why are you avoiding me? Why haven't you been answering my calls or coming to our study sessions?'

'Jesus, Pipes.' Alex looked around, then down at the floor. She had nothing to say. More that she didn't want to say it.

'Huh? Jesus what?!' Piper felt her eyes about to fill with tears, but forced them to stay there.

'Your family. Your dad is an asshole. He threatened my Uncle Jack, who is my favourite person in the entire world and is usually so happy, but I have never seen him so worried before. He's scared he'll lose the garage, because of your fucking dad.' She snapped.

'I'm sorry. I'm really sorry Alex. I didn't know he would do that and when he said it I was so angry, we had a fight about it. I just...'

Alex shoved Piper against the wall, whose eyes widened in shock. She opened her mouth to start shouting at Alex, when the brunette took a step towards her and stopped it with her own mouth. Her lips were warm and soft, as they shared a strong and passionate kiss. Fireworks. Their whole bodies tingling, stomachs jumping and hearts racing. Alex held Piper's head between her hands firmly as they kissed. Just her touch was intoxicating. Then, realising anyone could walk in and see them, They pulled apart reluctantly, both of them taking a breath which they had forgotten about during the kiss.

'That's why I've been avoiding you.'

'Alex...'

'Look, I know. You're straight, and I have feelings for you, way too much, and you're a Chapman, and-'

Piper tugged Alex's Jacket back in for another kiss, taking her by surprise.

After a few moments, Alex pulled away. 'Wow, that was unexpected.' She smirked, looking around and lowering her voice to a whisper, in case someone were to walk in. Her face was serious again.

'Piper, My mom and uncle were really mad with your parents. Your dad has the potential to take away my uncle's job from him. To destroy his life. He has power, and my uncle doesn't. This is serious, this feud they have going on. I'm supposed to hate you.' She smiles again at the last sentence, taking Piper's hand, who is looking into her green eyes. She knew she could never hate those innocent blue eyes.

'I know. I know. I hate how we're involved in this. I just wish that we could stay the way we are forever, without anyone giving a shit.' Piper looked down then, tangling her fingers with Alex's. 'I want to be with you, you know. In that way. I've never felt about anyone like this.'

Alex pushed Piper's hair from her face, smiling. 'You don't know how amazing it is to hear you say that. Because I feel exactly the same. You make me crazy.' She half laughed. 'But Pipes, we can't really be together. Not like this.'

'I know.' Piper whispered, the words barely audible as a tear ran down her cheek.

Alex let go of Piper's hand, feeling her eyes watering up too. She felt a pain in her chest, seeing Piper cry. She wiped Piper's tear with her sleeve, and caressed her soft cheek.

She then turned her back on Piper, ready to leave, not wanting to endure the pain she was feeling any longer. They had agreed they couldn't be together, so now Alex needed to get away from college, to clear her head.

As she stepped towards the door, Piper grabbed her shoulder, not wanting her out of sight, not wanting to lose the one thing she thought about all the time.

'I don't care. I don't care about any of them. About any of it. Please. Just kiss me.'

And Alex did exactly that.

* * *

I kind of wrote this all in one go, so not sure if it's as good as my other chapters, but I wanted to update it for you guys. Review &amp; let me know if you like it, would be cool to hear your thoughts/ideas :)

The lyrics are from 'Wonderland' on Taylor Swift's new album 1989. Thanks for the reviews, follows &amp; favourites guys! H xo


	5. Chapter 5

**Hey guys so posting t****his chapter in two chapters because i've written the other half and not checked over it yet! So expect another update really soon! Also, before you read, note that this chapter follows on from the kiss, it's the day after! enjoy, H xo**

**Chapter 5 - Vanilla Shake**

The morning sunlight spilled through the library window, targeting Alex who covered her glasses with her hand in attempt to stop the sun blinding her even more. She felt another chill as some one walked through the doors, there was never any heating in this place. It was 9am on a Friday morning and Alex wished she was still in bed, but Piper had dragged her to the library 3 hours before her first lecture. Until Piper had entered her life, nobody had ever been able to convince Alex to leave her bed if she didn't want to. She wrapped her mom's woolly scarf round her neck and pulled it over her mouth, leaning back on her chair. She was way too cold to concentrate on her work, so instead she began fidgeting, attempting to distract the blonde next to her.

Piper didn't react to her tapping, humming, or her chair swinging, so instead she decided to make conversation to surpass the boredom. 'God it's fucking freezing in here. Those librarians are definitely trying to freeze us to death.' She whispered jokingly to Piper, who ignored her and carried on as if she hadn't heard a word Alex had just said. She wore a look of deep concentration, focused on her notes. But it was okay, because Alex loved to just watch her. How her blonde hair sat just below her shoulders, streaks of a darker golden colour running through it. Alex studied her chiselled bone structure, her sun kissed skin, tired eyelids that fluttered occasionally, her pink lips slightly parted, moving silently every now and then when she read over what she had just written. It took Piper to break out her concentration bubble and glance to the side for Alex to realise she'd been watching her for the past couple of minutes.

'What's so fascinating?' She put her pen down and nudged Alex's leg, who in turn put her head in her hands as if she was daydreaming and continued to stare at Piper's face, smiling with amusement.

'What?!' Alex watched Piper's cheeks pinken, making her grin even more. There was something hot about an uncomfortable, blushing Piper. And also impossibly cute.

'_You_ fascinate me. Carry on what you're doing. Go on.' Piper then threw back her head and giggled like a little kid. Alex wanted nothing more than to kiss her at the moment, and she tried to keep her pose but Piper's laugh was infectious and she joined in. Piper then covered her mouth with her hands to stop the laughter, looking around, forgetting they were supposed to be in a quiet area.

'What am I gonna do without you during winter break?' Piper asked, pursing her lips as she watched Alex's smile drop slightly.

'I don't know, Pipes.'

'We need to end this stupid fucking feud. I'm sick of it. Let's try and end it, you and me. Maybe we're the only people that can.'

'Right. We're not Batman and fucking Robin Piper.' Alex laughed sarcastically, taking off her glasses and rubbing condensation off the lenses with her sleeve.

'No, Al, I'm serious. I feel terrible that your uncle could lose his business because of my dad.' She straightened her back and started packing away her things, with a sudden positive spring in her movements.

'I'm going to go and apologise. For my father. Maybe at least then your family will see I'm not all that bad.'

Alex's eyes widened and she leaned closer to Piper. 'Are you fucking-' realising people were looking up from their desks at her, Alex's loud voice slid back into a whisper. 'Are you fucking kidding me? Are you trying to get us killed or something?!'

Piper raised her eyebrows and spoke with a calming tone, 'Alex, you're over exaggerating. It'll be fine.'

She was about to stand up when Alex put a hand on hers. 'Piper. I would just like to stress that this idea is truly fucking stupid. If you say anything to my mom or uncle, anything- we're fucked. They'll know we've been seeing each other, and then I'll never be able to see you again.'

Piper looked at Alex then, her eyes wide in worry, her cold hand now tightening its grip round hers. It was then, seeing Alex looking genuinely scared, that she realised how serious this 'feud' really was.

* * *

Saturday morning. Piper clenched her teeth, hands in the pockets of her duffle coat, trying to keep them warm from the cold that was biting at her skin. She took a deep breath and exhaled, 'Come on Piper, stay calm,' she mumbled, trying to convince herself that she could hide her nervous body language as she stepped into the diner where Diane Vause worked.

'Shit.' She whispered to herself- the first thing she saw as she entered the empty and quiet diner was Alex, sat in one of the booths eating pancakes. Why did she have to be here? Alex went deadly still and gave her a confused 'what the hell' look. Piper cleared her throat and shifted her attention from Alex to Diane, who was leaning over a table, wiping it viciously with a cloth. She took another deep breath and kept her shaky hands in her pockets.

Diane moved behind the counter where the till was. Piper could see where Alex got her looks from, she had the same glossy raven hair but it was thrown into a bun, and she shared the same evergreen eyes as her daughter. She was curvy like Alex, but carried a bit more weight. As Piper approached the counter, she could feel the tension in the air, it was almost tangible. She glanced at Alex again who was shaking her head and mouthing the word 'Don't.' She couldn't do anything with Alex lingering around making her feel guilty as hell.

But the words tumbled out her mouth as she stood at the counter awkwardly. 'Excuse me.' She could feel Alex's eyes on her back.

Diane looked up, and her smile literally turned upside down, an angry expression quickly spreading across her face. 'Oh. What can i get you?' She looked like she was biting her tongue, a hand on her hip, tapping her manicured nails on the counter top impatiently as Piper went silent, choking on her words.

'Well?' It was clear Alex's mom knew exactly who she was, and if she wasn't working, Piper would've probably received a mouthful of abuse already. She opened her mouth and then Alex caught her eye, proceeding to stand up, walk past her and stand next to her mom, arms folded with a face like thunder. Piper didn't like that look at all. She realised Alex was right. By saying something, she would be overstepping the mark and possibly getting them both in deep trouble. Her eyes shifted from Diane to Alex, who now had one eyebrow raised.

'I'll have a vanilla shake please.'

Diane nodded and walked into the kitchen. Alex's face was a picture of relief, and she let out a sigh, pinching the bridge of her nose.

'Jesus Piper.' She whispered. Piper tried to crack a smile, which usually melted an icy Alex, but this time she wasn't amused. Diane returned with a glass of what was more just milk with a scoop of ice cream in it. Alex quickly folded her arms again and stepped back so as not to attract any suspicion from her mother, who dunked a straw in the 'shake' and pushed it across the counter.

'2 dollars 90 please.'

Piper coughed and looked down at her feet, realising she shouldn't be looking so much at Alex.

'Thanks,' she handed Diane the coins and drank the milk there and then, putting it back on the counter, wiping her mouth quickly with a hand.

She gave one last puppy-dog-eyes-'i'm sorry' look at Alex and then walked out in silence. Alex rolled her eyes. Typical Piper to act like the innocent one.

As Piper walked briskly down the street, beating herself up over the stupid move she had nearly made, her phone went off. She fumbled for it with her nearly frozen hands, and looked down at it.

**Alex: You idiot. Meet me by the park in 5. **

Piper's face lit up, and she headed towards the park.

* * *

**Hope you liked it! Next one up soon, thanks for following and favouriting, drop me a review for this chapter and let me know what you thought! H xo**


	6. Chapter 6

**Ughh i'm not really sure about these last few chapters i've written. I won't hate you if you say they're trash lol. I've planned ahead for this story but i need to update my other one soon, and i need to perfect this one so it doesn't turn crappy. Thanks for keeping up with me anyway haha xo**

**Chapter 6 - Cover me**

The two sat on a bench in the park, watching kids playing, people walking their dogs, and the ducks struggling to swim on the semi frozen pond. They spoke, but kept their eyes on their surroundings, on alert in case someone they knew appeared and saw them together.

'That would have been a dumb move. You're way too fucking brave, Pipes. You scared me.'

'I know, I'm sorry. But I thought it would be the only way we can see each other, that's all.'

'It's never going to happen Pipes. Our families detest each other. The day they become friends is the day I become queen of fucking England. Not gonna happen.'

Piper laughed, although it was a serious situation, Alex's jokes never failed to make her smile. She looked into Alex's eyes, and they looked at each other for a while in silence, until Piper broke their eye contact, eyes back on the ducks that were now swimming aimlessly round the pond. Alex hated seeing her sad. She looked around, then gently placed her hand on Piper's thigh.

'Hey. I have a better plan. How about, you say you're going away with Polly. I'll say I'm going with Nicky, they can cover for us. And then we can go somewhere for a weekend. Just the two of us.'

'Really?' Piper squeaked excitedly, turning back to Alex, wearing the beautiful smile that she was falling in love with.

'Really.'

'Do you think they'll cover for us?'

'We'll work it out Piper. What do you say?'

Piper lost all sense of alertness then, she forgot anyone else existed as she threw her arms around Alex, breathing in her delicious scent, her soft charcoal hair tickling her cheeks. Alex let out a husky laugh and tightened her arms round Piper, who felt safe in her hold. She never wanted to let go.

* * *

Alex sat on the couch with her long legs sprawled across it, reading texts from Piper that were making her smile. The only sound in the living room was the background buzzing of some sports channel. Uncle Jack sat at the small dining table, reading a newspaper, smoking a cigarette that left a cloud of smoke hanging in the room. Her mom was drinking a large glass of red wine while preparing the meal for later on. Jack had his eye on Alex as her random intervals of laughter became louder.

'Hey, Al. Go and check the mail box, will ya?'

Alex rolled her eyes and forced herself off the couch, lifted her hood over her head and pushed out the front door.

She handed her uncle a few envelopes and advertising leaflets and fell back onto the couch, taking her phone out of her pocket again.

'Jesus Christ that man!' Her uncle yelled, causing both her and her mother to jump up and stand behind him, peering over his shoulder to see what he had just read.

'Chapman. Oh Jack, not a-fucking-gain!' Her mom looked stressed all of a sudden, putting her hand to her forehead.

'What? What's happened?' Alex looked from her uncle to her mom, waiting for an answer, but instead Jack stood up and stuffed the paper in his pocket.

'Just business hun, stay here with your mom. I'm off out.' He threw his denim jacket on and stormed out the door, slamming it behind him before Alex could ask where he was going.

She looked round at her mom.

'Are you going to tell me what's going on?'

Her mom let out a sigh and wandered through to the kitchen.

'Mom!' Alex followed her, determined to get an answer. The word Chapman had been mentioned and that automatically made her feel like she had the right to know.

'Listen, Alex, we're just having a few problems with your uncle's garage, okay? That fuckin' Chapman family just won't stop until they have it their own fuckin' way.' She picked up a plate from the sink and began rubbing it with a tea towel.

'So…so Bill Chapman still wants to get Uncle Jack shut down?'

'How about you mind your own business baby. Why don't ya go to Nick's house or something, just be back for dinner.' Alex could see that her mom didn't want to talk about it, and a part of Alex didn't want to know anymore. If it was something between her uncle and Piper's dad, then it was between them, her and Piper shouldn't have to worry.

She decided to do exactly what her mom said, go to Nicky's. After all, she did have an important favour to ask her.

* * *

Piper grabbed a bag from her closet that seemed just big enough for a weekend. She began stuffing clothes into it, and when Polly went silent, she threw a pile at her. 'Here, make yourself useful and fold these for me.'

'Piper! You want me to lie! And what's even weirder - you're a lesbian! With a Vause!' Each sentence Polly spoke was an octave higher and a decibel louder. Piper's eyes widened.

'Wow Poll! Could you please keep it down?! My mom is downstairs! And don't be stupid I'm not a lesbian.'

'What are you then?' Polly reluctantly began folding the clothes, and Piper hesitated.

'We're just really good friends, that's all.'

'Pfft, yeah, Like Pete and I are really good friends.' Piper shot her a disapproving glare. 'And Since when? Since when did she become a better best friend than me!'

'She didn't!' Piper took a breath, speaking now with a calmer and quieter tone, 'She isn't. You're my best friend, which is why I'm asking you, as my best friend, to cover for me. Just please, Poll.' She took Polly's hands and gave her the sad look that she knew Polly would give in to.

'Okay, you know what fine. On one condition. You call me at least 3 times both days to let me know you're okay. And text me every hour.'

Piper wrapped her arms tightly round her best friend, 'Oh poll-'

'Just do it okay, she's trouble and you know it. I really don't like this idea.'

'Okay fine I will, I promise. But relax, she really isn't as bad as you think she is. You just have to get to know her.' Piper smiled, Alex's image tattooed on her mind as usual.

'I think I'll pass thanks.' Polly whacked Piper with a jumper she was folding.

She had no idea where they were going, but Alex had planned it herself and Piper was excited. She just hoped that they would be able to spend a weekend together where they weren't worrying about what other people thought, or where they didn't constantly have to be on guard in case somebody they knew saw them together. Where they weren't Chapman and Vause. It was tiring, having to keep that up, when all Piper wanted to do was just be with Alex. She didn't care where or how, but Piper swore to herself that her family was never going to take that away from her.

* * *

**This could probably be better, but I wanted to update, hope it wasn't too boring anyway. Thanks for reading! H xo**


	7. Chapter 7

**Kind of a filler chapter, and pretty short! But more exciting stuff to come, so here ya go.**

**Chapter 7 – Floral Sheets**

It had taken a little persuasion, but Bill and Carol had agreed to let Piper go away with Polly for the weekend, although only Saturday and then she needed to be back Sunday evening. If only they knew she was actually spending it with Alex Vause. Piper smiled to herself, she felt as though she was going somewhere undercover, doing something dangerous. She had never done anything behind her parent's back, and quite honestly, it felt fucking great. She sat on the subway on a worn and dirty seat next to Alex, who was engrossed in a book. Piper didn't feel so relaxed, she scanned the carriage up and down, a few businessmen reading the daily paper and a sleeping homeless looking man sat directly opposite her. Alex could feel Piper's anxiety and glanced up from her book to see her shoulders tensed up.

'Hey, what's up?' Folding the corner of the page and placing the book in her lap, she slid her glasses to the top of her head.

'Where are we going? Just tell me already.' Piper whined.

'On an adventure.' Alex raised the corner of her mouth, seeing Piper act like an impatient child, beginning to shake her knees like she always did when she was nervous.

'You've already said that, but you can tell me now.'

'Piper chill. Where's your sense of adventure? Channel your inner rebel. I know there's a free spirit in there somewhere waiting to come out. Stop acting so tense, Chapman.' She teased, holding Piper's leg still.

'I'm not acting tense!' She grinned, gently nudging her shoulder against Alex's.

'Ha, I can sense it from a mile away. Now just listen to your dumb music. And wait till we get there.' Alex laughed, picking her book up again.

'Taylor Swift is not dumb!' Piper said with an agitated tone, making Alex laugh even more, and with that she pushed her earphones into her ears.

* * *

'Wow Alex you've really pulled out all the stops!' They stood in a small motel room, plainly decorated with a slightly musty smell. Alex crossed the room and felt the radiator, which was stone cold.

'I tried alright, it's all I could afford.' Alex looked down at her feet, embarrassed that the room wasn't as great as she had expected. All she wanted to do was impress the girl she loved. Piper pushed a lock of Alex's hair behind her ear and took her hand.

'I was kidding. I love it. I love New York, and it's perfect for this time of year. There's so much to do here!'

Alex's face lit up again. 'Well, I was thinking we can go ice skating in Central Park tomorrow. And then get some Christmas shopping done.'

'Oh Yes! Yes Yes!' Piper jumped up and down excitedly and Alex chuckled.

'I knew you had a bit of adventure in you.' She turned to examine the state of the bed, a thin mattress adorned with a terrible taste in dated floral sheets. 'I hope you don't mind, they only had a double room so-'

'Alex-'

'All I'm saying is I can sleep on the floor if you would prefer.' She spoke quickly and Piper could see her becoming worried at the bed situation.

'Alex. Stop worrying, I love it. No one has ever done anything like this for me. Thank you so much. And no, I don't want you to sleep on the floor.' She said calmly, taking a step towards the brunette and searching her evergreen eyes. Alex smiled with those eyes, without saying a word. Piper loved how she could do that. She placed her hand on Alex's cheek. They hadn't had any proper physical contact since their first kiss that day in the bathroom at college, and Piper knew that they were truly alone at this moment. Although nervous, she desperately wanted to feel how she had felt that day again, so slowly leaned in and lightly pressed her lips on Alex's, gently tugging on her raven locks. It felt good, and at first Alex partially hesitated at the kiss she wasn't expecting Piper to initiate. Then, as if using her facial expression to ask if she could reciprocate, her lips pushed back, this time not so gentle but intense, full of love but also lust. Piper felt sudden heat spread throughout her body, she had been aching to be touched by Alex for so long, and Alex was exactly the same. She felt Piper's movements and breathing speeding up as their kisses continued, moving her lips to the blonde's soft neck, shifting her hands from her blonde hair down to her body, tracing every curve. The sound of their breaths were loud and ragged, filling the silent room. With a gentle bite on her neck, a quiet moan escaped Piper's mouth. Alex then pulled herself back, taking in a shallow breath.

'Sorry, sorry I get carried away. I know you haven't done this kind of thing before. With a girl I mean. I don't wanna make you rush into anything. You're just...so beautiful, Piper.'

'No, it's okay.' Piper bit her lip, steadying her breathing, and lifted Alex's hand level to their faces, both of them watching as their fingers intertwined. 'So are you.'

A smile slowly creeped onto Alex's face and she kissed Piper's cheek.

'Now I would love to carry this on, you know that. But, we need to eat, and I know a really good Thai place so I booked a table there for us. We should probably leave now if we don't wanna lose the table.'

Piper's lips curved into an excited smile. 'I love Thai.'

* * *

**Sorry it was so short! The next chapter won't be and is nearly finished, I was just so tired so I'll update tomorrow. Please review and give me your opinion, you've all been great so far, so thank you for that! H xo**


	8. Chapter 8

**Hey guys so new update, I've put an author's note at the end of the chapter just to answer a question one of you had and you might all be thinking aha. Enjoy this one xo**

**Chapter 8 - Mario**

'Then I had to walk through the airport - barefoot!' Alex said in between raspy laughs. Piper's infectious giggling could probably be heard throughout the entire restaurant, although it wasn't a big place. They had been chatting and laughing for the past hour, enjoying huge amounts of Thai food that they would never finish and inventing funny scenarios about the other people sat in the restaurant. All of a sudden, Alex's laughter cut off and she quickly pulled a menu in front of her face, ducking behind it. Piper turned her head following Alex's line of vision to see a tall man walk through the doors of the restaurant. He looked Italian, wearing a faded leather jacket and large chunky boots. He had wide shoulders, suggesting his arms were probably huge, and Piper noticed patterns shaved onto his closely cut black hair. He smiled at the waitress with a crooked gold toothed grin, towering over her as she showed him to a table. Alex grabbed Piper's hand, who spun her head back round, eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

'Don't turn around again like that or you'll make it obvious that we're here.' She whispered harshly, her eyes peeking up from behind the menu.

'Who is that? Why are you whispering?' Piper asked, trying to pull down the menu, but Alex refused to let go of it.

'That's my Uncle's friend, Mario. Well, his associate. Don't make it obvious you know who he is, okay? Just eat your food.' Her eyes darted around as if frantically searching for something in the room that would magically turn her invisible. 'Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.'

'Associate?!' Piper joined in with the whispering.

At the other end of the room by the entrance, the man sat down and pulled out a menu. Alex put her menu aside but kept her head down, hunched over the table. 'Yeah. It's more of a business thing with them, to keep us protected if my Uncle ever got into trouble. He's not done anything bad since I was a kid though, it's all in his past. They were best friends when they were younger and now he just visits occasionally to check up on us.'

'And how does he keep you…protected?'

'He's head of a gang. A pretty dangerous one, actually. Anyway if he fucking saw us together he would tell my uncle and mom straight away. But what the fuck is he doing here. He lives nowhere near this end of New York.'

'Wait- he knows who I am?'

'Of course he knows who you are. He's learned my Uncle's list of enemies off by fucking heart.' She said between clenched teeth.

'Well let's just go then!' Piper whispered loudly.

'What? Are you kidding? He'll see!' Alex spat, head still low, so that if he looked he wouldn't see anyone past Piper.

'Come on! Escape plan. We wait till he is occupied, ordering his food, and then we're out that door.'

'Wow Pipes I didn't know you had it in you to be a rebellious mastermind.' She chuckled quietly.

'Course I do. Stop acting so tense, Vause.' Piper grinned teasingly, repeating Alex's words from earlier, her blue eyes glistening with challenge. Alex raised her eyebrows and shook her head, trying to hold in a laugh.

Propping up her menu, Piper kept it in front of her face, cautiously turning round every few minutes to see what Mario was doing.

'Hey, he's talking to the waitress!' Alex spoke from behind her menu.

Piper quickly grabbed Alex's hand and they slid off their chairs, leaving the cash on the table. They both hurriedly walked towards the doors, bent over slightly so as not to get noticed, trying to keep their laughter from getting too loud as a few people stared at them. Just as they managed to duck out the door without being seen, Mario turned round mid conversation with the waitress, looking confused. 'Alex?' He called in a surprised tone, but neither of them heard, they were already running fast, hand in hand down the street. It began to rain and the distant sound of thunder rumbled in the dark evening sky above them. Heavy rain pelted their bare skin as they ran, until they were both soaking wet, but they were laughing to the point of collapsing with adrenalin rushing through them that they didn't notice the rain. After a good 5 minutes of running through the brightly lit up New York streets and dodging passers-by who gave them odd looks, they stopped for breath, panting and bending over with their hands on their knees. Piper clung onto Alex's shoulders to stay upright, still laughing. They were both soaked through to their skin from the rain, Alex's eyeliner and mascara had completely smudged and was now running down her face.

'Now that, Miss Chapman, was brilliantly rebellious.' Alex spoke in between breaths.

'I told you I can do rebellious.'

Alex smirked, she loved the fierce Piper. 'Where the hell are we?'

They looked around and saw they were stood on a huge bridge over a river.

'We're on a bridge.'

'I can see that you asshole.' Alex laughed, pushing Piper gently.

'And it's just us.' Piper shouted over the rain that became even heavier and louder. Water dripped off their hair onto their already soaked clothes. The damp smell of the rain filled their nostrils. The only sound was the rain, and police sirens in the distance. Alex moved her eyes up and down Piper's body, to see her white shirt had become see through. She looked amazing. Seeing an invitation in Piper's eyes, Alex pulled her by the head and kissed her, crushing her lips with her own. It was like their first kiss, only more intense, full of longing to touch one another.

* * *

Back at the motel, Piper lay on the bed with a towel wrapped round her after drying off, examining the strange painting of a cat on the wall opposite her. Their wet clothes hung on the radiator that had finally decided to turn itself on. Alex walked out the bathroom, holding a towel out in front of her, catching Piper's eye. With no warning, she dropped the towel to the ground, her eyes on Piper's. 'Oops.' She said, the corner of her mouth lifted into a smile and she raised an eyebrow. Piper gasped, seeing the brunette completely clothe less for the first time. And she looked incredible. Piper beckoned her over with her finger, mouth curving into a lustful smile, throwing her own towel off the bed. She wore only her underwear, and Alex climbed across the bed, beginning to take it off whilst kissing every inch of Piper's body.

'You sure want to do this?' She whispered intimately.

'Yes.' Piper nodded, eyes closed as Alex planted soft, intoxicating kisses on her hips. In response to her reply, Alex moved her head in between Piper's legs who was then unable to keep still, moaning and squirming on the bed. Her hands clenched the sheets and then grabbed the back of the brunette's head, fingers playing through her hair as she arched her back, moving her hips along with the movements of Alex's mouth. Alex moaned quietly too, kissing Piper's inner thighs, and for the first time it felt like she was doing this with someone not just due to lust, but love. Everything felt right, and perfect. After Piper let out one last loud moan, Alex moved back up to her face and kissed her passionately. A breathless Piper lay her head on Alex's bare chest who kissed her head and pulled the sheets over them. They lay in comfortable silence, playing with each other's hands, their eyelids becoming heavy as they listened to the patter of the rain against the window.

'Alex...'

'Yeah?'

'I...love you.' Alex paused, overwhelmed by what Piper had just said. A huge smile crept onto her face.

'I love you too, Piper.'

Piper looked up into her eyes, her proud smile making Alex chuckle. She cuddled back into her chest and Alex played with her hair, twisting blonde locks round her fingers, until they both fell asleep.

* * *

**just to let you guys know, i'm from Britain and never been to the US, obviously the fic is based in America with American characters, so if you're American and notice anything i've done or said that's wrong, let me know! Thanks for following and favouriting guys, keep up with the reviews, how did this chapter go?! H xo**


	9. Chapter 9

**Hey guys, hope you all had a good Christmas! Sorry if this is trashy, literally wrote it all today. Thanks for all your reviews and stuff, really appreciate it :) **

* * *

**Chapter 9 - The downfall**

After seeing Piper home safely (hiding round the corner of her street in case they got caught together), Alex practically fell through the front door of her house, dumping bags on the floor, a smile tugging at her lips. The weekend in New York had been the best idea; she only hoped Nicky had covered for her well. The Vause household was silent, her Uncle and Mom were at work, and she stood there for a moment, taking in the bliss quiet, it was the perfect time to make a coffee and read a book. Flicking on the light switch of the living room, she nearly jumped out of her skin.

'Shit! Jesus Mario!' She yelped. _Wait. Mario? What the fuck is he doing here? This can't be good._ 'How did you get in here?' One of her Uncle's best friends, Mario, stood in the middle of the room, arms folded, a suspicious grin masking his face.

'Hello Alex. Your Uncle gave me a spare key, remember?'

Alex rolled her eyes, pulling her jacket off and hanging it up by the door. Inside her head, a million and one thoughts were swimming around as to why he could be here. He didn't visit very often, neither did he turn up when no one was in. Sure, she had seen him in New York, but he hadn't seen them as far as she knew.

'Right. Yeah. Uncle Jack is at work right now, but he should be home soon…can I get you want a beer?' Alex tried her hardest to remain calm and cool like she usually does around Mario, she didn't want him picking up on anything out of the ordinary in her body language.

'Go on then. But I'm actually here to see how you're doing.'

'Oh yeah?' _What the fuck? Since when did he come just to check up on me? _She could feel his piercing eyes on her body, so she kept her own eyes to the floorboards below her and walked briskly to the kitchen, opening the fridge, pretending to search for the beer bottles even though she saw them straight away.

'I saw you with that girl. Why were you two in such a hurry to leave? You usually love stopping to speak to your old Uncle Mario.' He gave a throaty smoker's laugh. 'Who was she?' He leaned against the hatch that connected the living-come-dining room to the small kitchen so that his head appeared behind her, making her jump nervously.

Alex scoffed. 'What? What are you talking about?' She kept her back turned, grabbing a bottle of beer and pulling open the drawer for a bottle opener. She took a deep breath. _Come on Alex, you know where this is going._

'You know what I'm talking about. The other day, in that restaurant. I called you and you ignored me, now that's not like you, is it? It was as if, I dunno, you weren't supposed to be there. Or rather, you were with someone you weren't supposed to be _with_.'

Alex half laughed, her nerves beginning to ooze out of her. She pushed the bottle towards him. 'I think you're overreacting Mario. I was eating with a friend. That's all. I'm sorry I didn't see you.' _Great save. _She smiled to herself smugly and walked back into the living room towards the stairs, feeling Mario following close behind.

'And who's the friend?' He asked, ignoring her last sentence.

'You don't know her. Why does it matter?' She shrugged, turning her head.

'If it didn't matter you would tell me her name. She didn't look the type you usually hang out with. You know I'm not stupid Alex.' He took a sip of his beer slowly, eyes never leaving hers. Fear began to rush through her, he may as well just say 'Piper Chapman'. It was clear as daylight that he knew what was going on. _Fuck. _Alex looked down at her feet, anything to avoid his stare. She had learnt growing up that nothing ever got past Mario. Sure, she had always been her Uncle Jack's favourite and it only took an innocent look or a few cleverly placed words to sway him over when she made a mistake, or to believe her when she told a lie. But not Mario. He had always seen _right_ through everyone. He was also a skilled observer due to his position in the gang. She was naive to think he wouldn't have noticed them pass him in the restaurant. The brunette struggled with her words.

'I'm tired. I think I'm gonna hit the sack. Uncle J should he home soon if you want to hang around down here.' She muttered, ready to make it for the stairs.

'You know how much your Uncle and Mom don't get on with the Chapman family, right?'

Alex froze in her steps as if his words had been fired out of a gun and sliced through her head. She knew what he was doing. Without accusing her of actually spending time with Piper, he wove his way cleverly round it, pretending to change the topic of conversation. Implying that if she ever _was_ speaking to Piper, it wouldn't be tolerated. It was very clear cut that Mario already knew exactly who Alex was with the other night. He carried on, now that Alex had turned round to face him, eyebrows raised as if she was confused- it was the best thing she could think of doing, '…And that your uncle is going through shit right now with his garage? He hasn't told you because the old man is too proud. But did you know that it's money trouble? Really, really bad money trouble.'

Her facial expression involuntarily transformed, brow suddenly furrowed in worry. Mario smirked, as if he was enjoying informing her of her Uncle's money troubles. 'The council, which he rents the building from, are threatening to sell it if he can't pay them a higher rent. Sell it to _Bill Chapman._' Emphasising Piper's father's name only made it more obvious that Mario was aware of her trip to New York with the blonde. Her eyes widened in shock, wanting to speak but no words would come out her lips.

'Yep. That fucking man is doing it again. Purposely putting in an offer the council can't refuse, so that your uncle has nothing. All that hard work from building that place from nothing to what it is today will go to waste. So that leaves _you _lot thrown onto the streets like rats. Well, two can play at that game.' He chuckled, slouching down onto the couch, setting down his empty bottle on the floor and lighting a cigarette, as if what he was saying was just pure casual conversation. Her mind replayed his last sentence _'two can play at that game', _worried for her Uncle but also unsure what it meant exactly.

'What- what do you mean by that?' Her words tumbled out, and Mario took a puff of his cigarette before turning to look at her.

'We're going to get them. Finally going stop Bill fucking Chapman and wipe that smug smile off his greedy wrinkled face, pull his head out his arse and send him running.'

'How? As in like hurt him? That's a bad idea.' She spoke quickly, spluttering out the words without thinking about anything other than Piper - she couldn't really care less about Bill.

'I don't know how yet. But that man will be stopped. And so it would break your Uncle's heart if he knew you would ever amicably associate yourself with someone related to the man trying to ruin his life. Your mom's life. Your _own_ life.' He emphasised the last sentence with a harsh whisper, injecting a chill up Alex's spine.

'Wh- why does this have to be violent? Why can't you just- just get Uncle Jack to talk to Bill? To sort it out between the two of them?' Alex asked, nervously adjusting her glasses on her nose. Mario chuckled so loudly it turned into a cough, and he slapped his chest with a fist whilst stubbing his cigarette out in the glass ashtray on the coffee table.

'Alex, please. Now, if you were friends with...say…their daughter. I wouldn't tell anyone. Wouldn't want to upset your Uncle that much. As long as you promised to stay away from her, otherwise it would just be even more ugly. She would have to pay just as much as her snotty parents, couldn't have her going near my little Alex now could I?' He grinned, his golden teeth glinting. It was as if he was waiting for a reaction from Alex, yanking at the temper he knew she possessed.

Feeling a sharp stabbing pain in the pit of her stomach, she stood silent for a few moments, the sound of the clock ticking suddenly seemed to echo loudly in her head. Her body felt numb, hearing those words that threatened the person she would always want to protect the most. She clenched her fists by her side. _Don't let him win, _her head pounded at her. But it was too late, Alex couldn't keep her cover anymore. He already knew, anyway. Heat rushed through her body and the hot headed Vause trait burst out of her like an exploding can of coke.

'Don't you go near her!' she barked, slamming her fist down on the dining table to grab his attention that was on another cigarette he was about to light.

'Woah, woah!' Mario stood up holding his palms in the air, slowly lowering them, beckoning her to calm down. 'Now...has someone got a soft spot for a Chapman girl?'

Alex ignored his question. She knew what he was doing. She knew that as loyal to her family as he was, he was dangerous. But at this moment, blinded by anger, she wasn't afraid of him.

'I'm serious, Mario. Don't you fucking touch her.' She hissed, stepping closer to him. She was a few inches shorter than him, so although squaring up to his face seemed helpless, it was her instinct to act intimidating. However, she had given him the words he had been waiting for.

'Protect her then.' He stepped even closer towards Alex, she could smell his breath that reeked of tobacco and his aftershave that was far too strong for Alex's liking as well as his proximity so she backed up against the wall. He lowered his voice to a whisper. 'Protect her and her waspy family. By not speaking to her. Ever.'

Alex's eyes began to sting with tears that threatened to make an appearance as she looked into his dark, menacing eyes. He was being deadly serious, Mario didn't mess around. But the thought of not ever seeing Piper again tore her apart inside.

'Otherwise we will have to keep her away from you by ourselves.' _Ourselves? Does he mean his stupid drug ring gang? _He took a few steps back, rolling his shoulders with a smirk, quickly transforming back to his usual relaxed self as if they hadn't had that conversation at all. He smiled a gold tooth smile. 'I think I'll just have another beer and wait up for your Mom and Jack to come home.' He strolled into the kitchen and began to whistle, a sound that pierced Alex's ears. Without another word, she ran up the stairs and slammed the door shut, pulling her hair back with her hands. She was furious, because she knew how serious the threat was, and how bad the consequences would be if she ignored it. She hated how casual he had acted about it. Anger seared through her veins as she stormed over to her desk, scattered with piles of books and pots of pens. With a loud scream of rage she wiped her hand swiftly across the table, and all the objects on it flew to the floor with a loud crashing sound. Unable to keep it together any longer, she buried her head into her shaking hands, falling back to the wall and immediately slumping against it down to the floor. Her vision blurred, body shaking, mind repeatedly shouting _Piper. Piper. Piper._ Everything built up inside her, and she burst into an inconsolable fit of tears.

After twenty minutes of non-stop crying, Alex stood up and wiped her swollen eyes. With her mom being out of the question, she fumbled for her phone to call the only person she has ever turned to when shit has gone wrong in her life. Nicky.

'Nick, can we talk?' She spoke in between quiet sniffles. She held her breath then, not wanting to sound as utterly broken as she felt.

'Hey Vause. What's up with you?' Of course Nicky instantly detects the sound of pure worry in Alex's voice. '…Is it Chapman?'

'I'm coming round yours. Actually- can we go out tonight? I need a drink.'

* * *

A countless amount of shots later, ranging from vodka to sambuca and tequila, Alex had forgotten her problems, her worries. Head spinning, vision slightly out of focus but enough to keep upright, she let out roars of laughter at everything Nicky, Lorna, Daya and Taystee said as they stumbled along the pavement with one another, arms linked on their way to another bar. The next bar was full and bustling with energy. Sat on the edge of a sticky wooden bar stool, Alex patted her jacket pockets clumsily at the feeling of her phone vibrating. It took a while for her eyes to adjust to the letters on the screen and focus in on the name.

**Pipes. 5 missed calls. 7 texts.**

'Shit!' She mumbled to herself, and she racked her brain, realising her and Piper were supposed to be going out together tonight. She had completely stood her girlfriend up. Whether purposely deciding to go and get ludicrously drunk with the others to forget everything or subconsciously doing it to protect Piper as Mario had instructed, she didn't know. She couldn't remember, alcohol had taken over now and numbed most feelings or thoughts she possessed. After a few jabs at it that had missed, she tapped the ring button next to Piper's name and brought it to her ear, shoving a finger in the other at an attempt to drown out her friend's loud and rowdy conversations. She was greeted with a serious, cutting tone from piper.

'Alex where the fuck are you?' Her voice hit Alex hard and instantly caused her numbed feelings to flood right back to her.

'Pipes, I love you Piper, I'm- s -sorry Piper I just love you-' she slurred, hand on her forehead.

'Are you drunk? What the fuck Alex are you fucking drunk?! You went out without me? I've been waiting for you to meet me, at our place! We were supposed to be going clubbing together Al!' Piper yelled, her voice becoming thick as a lump appeared in her throat, she already felt like crying, and the feeling intensified when she heard female voices laughing in the background of wherever Alex was.

'No no I'm not- okay yeah, yeah maybe I am a bit drunk. Who the fuck are you to judge me anyway?! If I want to go out and get fucked I will, you're not my Mother!' She shouted back, instantly regretting it. When Alex was drunk, she gave as good as she got, even to the people she loved the most. It was her way of coping with her problems, lashing out at people. Piper suddenly went quiet. She had never known Alex to be like this; so cold. Alex had never ditched their plans to go out with other people and it deeply upset her, cutting like a knife to her heart, worried how out of character Alex was suddenly becoming over one phone call.

'Wait, Piper I didn't mean-'

Piper swallowed before interrupting the drunk brunette. 'Fine. You know what, fine. Fuck you Alex. Fuck you!' Tears began to run down her cheeks.

'Piper no I'm not – I just – I can't speak right now I can't, I'm sorry.' Sober thoughts about Piper and her conversation with Mario seeped their way into her brain, and she squeezed her eyes tightly shut, wishing they would go away. She was angry at the Chapman family getting her own family in shit. She was angry at Mario. She was also scared because the last thing she ever wanted was for Piper to be hurt. Hearing Piper cry made her want to cry too. And she could feel it rising, the tear ducts swelling beneath her eyes.

'Ayy Alex! Get off the phone and come take another shot!' Nicky called over, bringing Alex back into reality.

'Talk to me when you're sober, and when you have fucking time for me in your busy social life.' Piper spat.

Alex stepped outside because there wasn't a chance in hell she would hear anything otherwise, but the line had already cut out. Piper had hung up. She shoved the phone in her pocket and walked swiftly further from the bar entrance, her breathing becoming shallow and fast, trying to calm herself down as thoughts of the girl she loved so much consumed her. Her chest tightened and eyes watered as less and less of the crisp cold air filled her lungs. She wanted desperately not to cry, but her body felt like that was all it had left to do. Knowing Piper was so upset yet unaware of what was going on with no explanation had the worst effect possible upon Alex, and she looked over at the crowd of drunk, laughing people stood in the outdoor smoking area. Couples hanging onto one another, kissing each other without giving a shit if anyone else saw. She was almost doubled over when she felt hands on her shoulders.

'Hey, hey come here.' Nicky's soothing voice spoke. She pulled Alex into her arms and began stroking her hair, She knew Alex had been on the phone to Piper, she knew they had argued and she just wanted to show Alex that she was there for her.

'I can't Nicky - I - Piper-' was all Alex could get out before she began to cry uncontrollably into Nicky's shoulder, who in turn tightened her grip on Alex's body. Whether or not it was the alcohol having an effect on them, because this wasn't a usual moment the two shared, Nicky didn't know. But beneath the jokes and the banter, Nicky cared infinitely about Alex and it was the same the other way round. Seeing the girl she had known all her life so distraught hit a nerve inside her and all she wanted was her usual sarcastic, funny, easy going best friend back.

'Come on, we're gonna go home now.' Nicky whispered, arm stretched round Alex. She gave Lorna a text to say she was taking her home and they walked in silence back to Nicky's in comfortable silence. She didn't ask Alex any questions, nor tell her any jokes to cheer her up. Nicky knew she was beyond that, so silence was the best thing for now, and getting her into a bed to sleep off the pain. Not that that would happen, but it was the only thing Nicky could do for her. This was inevitable. A Vause just couldn't be with a Chapman, and Nicky was well aware of the trouble to come as soon as she saw Alex lay eyes on Piper Chapman.

* * *

**Hope you enjoyed it, I really like this story but i dont wanna f it up aha so let me know. Continue with the reviews, they're really helpful! H xo**


	10. Chapter 10

**Hope you enjoy this one, there's not as much depth to it because it's mainly dialogue and me trying to explain how they feel, but there's more exciting stuff to come I promise :) Thanks for all the reviews, follows and favourites, it means a lot.**

* * *

**Chapter 10 - girlfriend?**

Since their argument over the phone on Sunday, with words spoken that they both regretted, Piper had been avoiding Alex just as much as the brunette had been avoiding her. It was a cold, dark Tuesday morning, and on Monday they had passed each other in the corridors on their way to their lectures, unavoidable eye contact shared between them. But as if they were back at the start, Alex shook it off, green eyes flashing quickly back to her friends, walking on quickly before the blonde could stop and speak to her, pretending she was in a rush to get somewhere. Piper knew it was bullshit; Alex Vause was never in a rush to get anywhere. Quite frankly Piper quickly grew sick of it. Besides, it was Piper that was supposed to be mad, _she_ was the one that hung up, _she_ was the one that got stood up the other night. So why was Alex being the one that walked away?

Alex could see what she was putting Piper through and she wished it wasn't necessary. She wanted to stride over to that beautiful figure and kiss her up against the lockers in front of everyone. _If only that was possible_. She was frantically picking her brain to think of a way to tell Piper what Mario had said, how to break the news that they could no longer meet at their usual times in their usual places.

Piper was scared of asking Alex what was going on, because she didn't want to push her away. The hint of mysteriousness that was there from the day they met had still not left, it was in the way Alex carried herself. She would always be mysterious to Piper, even when she knew all her secrets, all her dreams, all her fears; it was just the way Alex Vause was. She knew she hadn't done anything wrong, but she was sure something was stopping Alex from speaking to her. Which meant it was something really bad. Piper then decided that if she couldn't even get an answer through a text, and she was too impatient to follow Polly's advice of waiting for Alex to come to her, she would have to go that one step further, and speak to Alex's best friend - Nicky. The one person who would surely know what was going on. Piper was aware Nicky didn't think much of her because of course, she was a waspy Chapman. But she could not spend another day of torture without Alex's husky laugh, soothing voice or amazing smile that brought out those cute dimples in her pale cheeks. It was painful to try and guess what was upsetting her, what was putting walls up around her, and so Piper needed to be the one to figure that out. On Tuesday afternoon, as the sea of students filled the corridors towards the college entrance on their way to catch buses, unlock bikes and walk their separate ways, Piper spotted Nicky's frizzy hair among them. She wasn't hard to miss. With her folders tugged tight to her chest to hide any nerves that may show through body language, she took a deep breath and increased her pace to catch up with the red head.

'Nicky.' She mumbled, way too quietly with no avail. She reached her arm between a couple holding hands (who gave her annoyed looks and swerved out the way) and tugged at Nicky's hoodie. 'Nicky!' This time loud enough for a few people to turn their heads, Nicky turned with a confused look, until she saw the blonde stumble towards her and Lorna. Her face relaxed to a sultry expression as if speaking to Piper was something she didn't really wish to endure right now.

'Ah, blondie.' She huffed.

'Hi.' Piper looked from Lorna back to Nicky, with an uncomfortable look on her face. When Nicky clocked that it was serious, she pulled Piper to the side, gesturing Lorna to go on.

'I'll catch you up.' Lorna gave a thumbs up, smiling intimidatingly with raised eyebrows at Piper before disappearing into the crowd of students once more.

'I don't think you and I have spoken properly before-' Piper began with an attempted friendly tone before Nicky interrupted her with a hand in the air.

'Look, let's just cut to the chase.' She folded her arms defensively. 'You wanna talk about Alex, am I right?'

Piper winced at the name of the person she missed so much after only 2 days of being apart from. 'Yes, I need to ask you something.'

'Shoot.' Nicky looked around as if there were other things she'd rather be doing than waiting impatiently for Piper's question.

'She's been…weird, lately, and, well I know something's going on. And I know she won't tell me because it's not something that I have done. She really pissed me off the other night and she was being out of character, like really out of character. But now she's acting like _I'm_ in the wrong. And I know you were with her Nicky. So what's going on?'

Nicky stood back, half impressed at the feisty tone that had now risen in piper's voice.

'Yeah, I was with her. She was a fuckin' mess, you know that Chapman? And, as usual, it's because you weren't there.'

Piper's face dropped into one furrowed with worry. 'Why? Why was she a mess? I didn't do anything to upset her, so Nicky please just tell me-'

'I'm not telling you anything, you need to talk to her yourself, okay? I can't get in between this. See the problem is, blondie, you're a Chapman. Alright, and that means that anything you do with a Vause, is going to end in tears. So if you want this twisted, dangerous, tumultuous shit between the two of you to work, I suggest you go speak to her, okay? Because there's nothing I can do, trust me.'

'She won't speak to me Nicky.'

'Have you actually tried confronting her? Or are you just staying away, waiting for her to come to you and open up? Because that's not her style. This is Alex we're talking about.' She half chuckled. 'However, I know her, and I've never seen her like this with anybody else, I'll admit. She really fuckin' cares about you Chapman, and she really wants to talk to you, I know that much. She's just trying to…figure out how.'

'Where is she now?' Piper's knees weakened at Nicky's words. All that she wanted to do now was to find Alex.

Nicky took a pack of gum and threw a piece into her mouth. 'She'll probably be outside with Lorna. She said she'd meet me there.'

'Where, Nicky?' Piper snapped.

'Woah, by the oak tree, out front! Want one?' Nicky held the gum out in front of Piper, who sighed. Her mind was now fixed on finding the brunette.

'Thank you Nicky,' was all she said before storming towards the doors.

* * *

Piper spotted Alex immediately, leaning against the huge oak tree by the steps, and she approached her fast, grabbing her wrist to tug her away from a surprised looking Lorna. She didn't care who saw.

'Woah, Piper-'

'Can we talk?' Piper asked, although it didn't sound much like a question, eyes on the street ahead of them.

'I guess I don't really have a choice.' Alex grunted, pulling away her arm and flexing her wrist after Piper had actually dug nails into it because of her tight grip. She was taken a back at first, never seeing the blonde this worked up. But she knew they had to talk. She even felt a bit guilty, she didn't really have the right to have a go at Piper, it was her that had been the idiot. They walked for at least 10 minutes in complete silence, tangible tension hanging in the air. Alex slightly delayed herself behind Piper who was clearly angry, anyone could see that, and Alex could literally feel it pouring out of her. _How the fuck am I going to tell her._ They arrived by a row of buildings, and Piper yanked Alex into one of the alleyways in between a hairdresser and a charity store.

Before Alex could speak, Piper was already yelling in her face, as she had expected. 'Just tell me what is going on! I hate it when you do this. You just put up fucking walls that I can't get past. You have to let me in Alex. You have to tell me so I can understand!'

It scared Piper how she was already in way too deep with Alex this early in their relationship, and if the brunette kept things from Piper that got in the way of them being together, it might just nearly kill her. Alex wanted to kiss her and tell her everything was going to be okay, but all she could do was stand and watch their breaths form little clouds, evaporating in the freezing cold air.

'I thought you trusted me. I thought you liked talking to me. We promised we would always tell each other things. Fucking hell Alex are you going to say something?'

Before, Piper wouldn't want to push Alex in case she scared her away, but she was past that point now. She was sick of it, sick of this roller coaster Alex had strapped her to, moving faster than anything she'd ever experienced, unable to get off now because she was so invested in everything that was Alex that it seemed to consume her and cling to her wherever she went. And right now Alex was keeping things from her, acting off with her, shutting her out and Piper desperately just wanted to know what her girlfriend was thinking, she just wanted to be let back into Alex's world, no matter how fucked up things were. She didn't care. But she was petrified that they seemed to have gone backwards in their relationship, and that there wasn't a damn thing she could do to take away the stress she could see in Alex's beautiful eyes.

'Why are you doing this? Why are we going backwards Alex?' Her voice cracking slightly, Piper pushed the mute brunette by the shoulders, harder than she had anticipated.

Alex's eyes widened at Piper's sudden anger. 'Please Piper. Don't- I'm sorry, I'm so sorry-' Her stomach twisted, there was honestly nothing more painful than seeing Piper so distressed and upset. She had to tell her. This couldn't go on any longer, because she loved Piper so fucking much, more than the blonde even knew, so she had to protect her from Mario's threats, and she also had to protect her own family. So if that meant keeping her distance for a little while so she could figure out how to get out of this fucked up mess, then it was her only choice. Although it ripped her heart out of her chest to even imagine being apart from Piper for a long period of time, she couldn't think of a way around it. She at least owed Piper an explanation first, she couldn't bear the thought of the gorgeous blonde in standing in front of her thinking she didn't love her anymore, and knew that if it was her on the receiving end she too would be reeling with anger. Piper flinched slightly at Alex's touch then, not expecting it and pushing her away. But Alex simply stepped towards her once more, pulling her into a warm embrace, wrapping strong arms round her and placing her chin on her head whilst stroking blonde locks. Piper let go of her anger at that second and buried her head into Alex's chest, sobbing, overwhelmed by the past few days of pain and worry, letting it out in one go. Alex let out a loud sigh.

'Fuck, don't cry Pipes. Please, or I'll start crying and trust me I've already done that a fair amount of times.'

Piper prized herself from their embrace and searched the brunette's eyes. 'Why? What's happened? Tell me. Please Al, I can't take this anymore.'

Alex paused to think of the right words to say without sounding like a complete bitch. 'Look, Pipes, you and I are gonna have to spend some time apart for a while...' Her sentence trailed off, realising that was the worst way she could possibly put it. Piper's blue eyes became empty, draining of any happiness that had appeared whilst being in Alex's arms again, a look Alex simply couldn't contest with.

'Shit, it's not what it sounds.' She tucked a strand of hair behind the blonde's ear. 'It's a fucking stupid reason, and it yet again involves our families.' Alex's eyes shifted down to the drawstring of Piper's grey hoodie she was fiddling with, but could still feel Piper watching her, felt her steady hot breath against her own skin due to their intensely close proximity. She looked back up into confused sky blue eyes.

'Your Dad is trying to buy my Uncle out for his garage, take all the shares of it before my Uncle can get time to find a loan, and if he loses the garage…we'll lose the house, my Mom's car, and...pretty much everything.' A shocked look filled Piper's eyes.

'Mario told me that...that he wants to do _something_ about it,' she put mildly between grated teeth. Ever since he had made threats towards Piper, just his name made her skin crawl.

'Do you think he-' Piper began her sentence with a frantic look of worry on her face, but Alex finished the words for her.

'Saw us? Yeah. He didn't specifically say he saw that it was you, but…he knows. Nothing gets past that asshole. Our covers been blown Pipes, and he wants us to stay apart, otherwise things could get...ugly. And I don't want anything bad happening to you and your family. So I have to stay away from you. Do you understand me?' She placed a pale warm hand onto Piper's face, tracing her thumb along the blonde's jawline, brushing it over her bottom lip.

'I'm so sorry Alex' Piper whispered almost inaudibly.

'It's not your fault Pipes. You have to understand that whatever I do now is for you okay - because I love you and I just need to keep you safe - I'm not…_good_ for you...' She couldn't finish her sentence, words became meaningless now, there was nothing else she could really say. Piper understood, but could not fathom the idea that they needed to be apart any longer than they already had. A tear rolled down from her blue eyes which Alex attempted to wipe away with her thumb as it reached her lips, not realising tears were now seeping out of her own eyes, too. She took in a sharp breath, desperately trying to hold herself together in front of the devastated blonde. Hell, one of them had to be the strong one. Piper held Alex's head between her hands and brought their lips together. Slowly, their lips familiarly brushed against one another in silence, and their foreheads touched, blue and green eyes locking.

'No.' The word was almost forceful, like she was stating a fact. 'No, it doesn't have to be this way.'

'Piper, yes it does. There is no other way Pipes.'

'You say that you're not good for me, when it's _my _family that could be throwing yours onto the streets? Fuck that. I'm fucking sick of it all. The sneaking around, the running away, not being able to go on a normal date like normal people in case anybody fucking sees us in the broad day light. Alex, I want to be with you and I want to be with you properly. I want you to be my girlfriend, because I love you, and I want to shout it out loud to the world.'

Alex stood in silence, the world 'girlfriend' sticking in her mind. Had Piper just asked her to be her girlfriend? 'Pipes, you want me to be your girlfriend?' A smile tugged the corner of her lips as her hands slid down onto Piper's hips, momentarily forgetting any sadness that had only a few seconds ago engulfed it ever be possible for them to have an argument or a serious conversation without becoming lost in each other's eyes? The blonde blushed slightly.

'Well, yes, but I was trying to say something else too…'

'Firstly, yes, I will be your girlfriend.' This lit up Piper's face immediately and she lost her train of thought. 'Secondly, I don't know how the fuck I thought I could ever keep away from you for more than a few days, you know that? So tell me, what's your plan?' Piper looked at her then with challenging eyes and a smug smirk on her face. She may be a Chapman, but she was not to be underestimated. Alex knew it would be stupid and reckless, and would probably get them in deep shit with their families. But she'd be damned if she wasn't going to fight for Piper Chapman.

* * *

**Bit boring, but it needed to be written in order for the story to progress, anyway let me know what you think, thank you so much for reading! H xo**


	11. Chapter 11

**So I'm a terrible person. I haven't updated this fic for absolutely ages and I'm so sorry, it's not okay! I've been back at university and it's kind of non-stop and ridiculously busy that I just haven't been paying attention to this fic but I hate leaving things unfinished and I have a plan for the rest of it! So, this chapter is a very short one just because I want you to know that I haven't left it, I'm back! Hope you enjoy it and let me know how you find it! H xo**

* * *

**Chapter 11 - Nicky's Place**

'That's never going to work Piper' Alex let out a husky laugh, squeezing her girlfriend's thigh who was sat on her lap. They were at Nicky's place, whose Mom was hardly ever home so it made sense for them to hang out there sometimes, they had gotten bored of late night library meetings and Alex had promised Nicky they would only stay there for a few hours and that they wouldn't have sex in her house while she was out with Lorna. Although, with Piper all to herself and them being alone, it would be a difficult promise to keep.

'Stop laughing, this isn't funny, it's serious!' Piper said with a light slap on Alex's wrist.

Alex traced her fingers lightly up and down Piper's thighs. 'Okay, okay I'm sorry. Carry on.'

'So then I'm going to go into my dad's office, and-' She took in a sharp breath and fluttered her eyelids as Alex placed open mouth kisses on her neck, biting softly at her pulse point. 'Alex- could you please listen,' she gulped, her words trembling as Alex's hands slid under her t-shirt, coming into contact with her bare skin.

'Carry on baby, I'm listening' Alex mumbled against Piper's neck, a smirk appearing on her lips.

'No you're not- oh fuck-'Piper's breath hitched as Alex groped her breasts over the material of her bra. 'Alex, we told Nicky we wouldn't- what if her Mom comes home?' Piper managed to mutter, an exhilarating feeling in the pit of her stomach at the thought of the pair doing something they weren't supposed to be doing.

'Told Nicky what? That I wouldn't fuck you on her sofa?' Alex whispered into Piper's ear, voice thick with lust, nibbling at the blonde's earlobe. Piper closed her eyes, lost for words as Alex explored her body with talented hands.

'Fuck it.' Piper exclaimed, pulling the brunette roughly on top of her as she lay back on the sofa, smashing their lips together. Alex chuckled smugly as Piper let out a moan, her tongue asking for entrance into her mouth as she squeezed Piper's hips harder. She knew she would get what she wanted, she always did. Piper never had the upper hand when it came to physical contact between them and Alex knew this. It took a few carefully placed kisses and a couple of warm breaths down Piper's neck and she would do anything Alex asked, she had total control. Alex wasted no time in sliding Piper's jeans off and throwing them to the ground, massaging the inside of her thighs with a hand.

'Alex please' Piper whispered, head back and eyes closed tightly, a feeling of absolute ecstasy had taken over her now.

'Please what?' Alex growled softly, moving down the blonde's body with her lips until she replaced her hand with them, slowly pacing closer to her centre that was aching to be touched.

'You know what.' Piper managed to say in between heavy breathing and supressed moans as Alex slid her hands to her ass to squeeze and back to her thighs again. She chuckled against Piper's skin, peppering it with soft kisses until she reached her underwear.

'These need to come off.' Alex commanded in a low, authoritative tone, tugging at Piper's black lace underwear.

'Alex!' Piper groaned, far too impatient for the teasing she was receiving from her girlfriend. To her surprise, Alex pushed the material aside and roughly inserted fingers into Piper, causing her to moan so loudly that Alex had to quickly tell her to hush with a smirk. She continued at a steady pace, increasing the speed of her movements whilst kissing Piper's abdomen and thighs. The blonde bit her lip so hard she could taste blood. Her hands tightened in Alex's brunette locks that sent a shot of pain through her but it didn't matter, she enjoyed knowing the amount of pleasure she was giving Piper. It didn't take long before she was shaking and screaming Alex's name over and over. Alex chuckled to herself, at the same time wondering if the entire neighbourhood could hear them.

'Jesus, Alex, wow.' Piper muttered between ragged breaths, sprawled out across the sofa feeling as though all energy was now drained from her.

'Horrible, wasn't it?' Alex smiled with the corner of her mouth and kissed up the blonde's body till their lips met in a passion filled kiss that lasted for longer than expected. Piper finally gained her breath back, and whispered, 'The worst. You're really bad at that.'

'I love you, Piper Chapman.' Alex's green eyes glistened, and Piper could see that she really meant it. Never had she felt so comfortable and in love with someone before. Never could she imagine a world without Alex Vause. Never did she think she would _need _and _crave _Alex Vause.

'I love you too.'

Alex's beautiful smile remained plastered on her face, there was nothing in that moment that would rid of it. 'Now let's get those clothes back on you before Nicky gets back.'

'Shit, and we never discussed our plan.' Piper sat up quickly, pulling her hair back into a ponytail since it probably looked like she had just thrown herself into a tornado.

'It's okay Pipes, don't worry. I know you know what you're doing. Just please be careful.'

'I will. I'm not going to fuck this up, Al. I promise.'

'I know.' Alex took Piper's head between her hands and brought her face so close that their noses were only just touching. They searched each other's eyes, studied each other's faces, kissed each other's foreheads. Because they would never get tired of doing that, and they knew that they both had unlimited trust for one another. In that moment, it was clear that although what they had between them was tumultuous and volatile, it was completely irrevocable and inevitable.

* * *

**Hope you guys enjoyed this, I'm aware that it's ridiculously short and definitely not my best chapter! But hank you so much for reading and sticking with it! Next chapter will be longer I promise, and won't be long till it's up. Please review to let me know what you think and if you have any ideas feel free to drop them in the comments! H xo**


	12. Chapter 12

**Hey guys, finally managed to update this! I tried to put it up yesterday but it wasn't letting me upload it idk why haha. Thanks for sticking with this story, let me know if you have any ideas for it, they're always welcome and might help me write the next chapter quicker :) Hope you enjoy it, H xo**

* * *

**Chapter 12 - Baseball in the bathroom**

There had always been a rebellious side to Piper, begging to be drawn out. Along with every 'do' and 'don't' that had come from her parents mouths; there had been something deep inside her wishing she could just go completely against their word. Not for any particular reason, just because it would be _exciting. _Some sort of thrill. She wanted a life with challenge, and most importantly she wanted to appear as a challenge to others. Until Alex had entered her life, Piper had been the typical goody-goody-daddy's-girl that nobody looked twice at. She had been pretty but not sexy, clever and interesting but not edgy or mysterious. She was an open book. Alex had brought out a whole new side to her that people now looked at in jealousy or curiosity; it was fearless and carefree and it was a side to her that Alex loved unconditionally. When she was with Alex, she wasn't a Chapman. She was just Piper. Piper had fallen in love; and in the process she had become who she really was. The missing piece of her had been filled.

Standing in her father's office, Piper's mind blanked for a few moments. She felt as though her feet were glued to the ground. Everything was so tidy and pristine. Stationary and several piles of notes sat perfectly in place on a mahogany desk, books ranging from law to science to philosophy neatly nestled in shelves, next to which stood two large file cabinets, presumably containing important case files. Piper tried to lift her feet that had sunk into the freshly hoovered thick red carpet, but it was as if she had suddenly forgotten why she was there. Her stomach twisted slightly with a hint fear of being caught in a room that was strictly out of bounds to her and her brother. What would her excuse be if her mom or dad were to walk in right at this moment? There was no valid reason for Piper to be stood in the middle of Bill Chapman's office, other than to steal a file that was only to be seen by the eyes of lawyers and the council. If he knew what she was doing, her life wouldn't be worth living.

'Piper? A familiar husky voice on the other side of the phone interrupted her drifting thoughts, bringing her back to the situation at hand.

'Yeah, sorry.' Piper gripped the phone tighter and wiped her other hand on her jeans as it threatened to produce a thin layer of sweat.

'Focus, Pipes. Can you see any filing cabinets or drawers where he would keep the important stuff?'

Piper scanned her eyes round the room. 'Yeah, yeah I can see them.' She nodded and finally took a step forward, placing a hand against the cold metal of one of the cabinets.

'Right. Now go through the drawers. It'll be alphabetically ordered probably so go for V…or C, if he's put it under his own name.'

'Right. Filing cabinet.' She slowly pulled out the top drawer of the cabinet halfway, only to see piles of plain printing paper and boxes of biros.

'Not that one.' She whispered to herself, closing the drawer, wincing as it made a loud clanging noise. She only wished Alex was doing this for her, because she clearly had a lot more experience in doing things similar. It just made Piper anxious, with an image in the back of her mind of her dad going absolutely mental after seeing his precious daughter go through his private work business. But the rest of the Chapman family were out right now and it was the only opportunity she had if their plan was to go ahead. _This is for Alex, s_he kept telling herself. 'I think this is just stationary.'

'Try the other cabinet.' Shifting to the other cabinet, she moved through dozens of papers in the top two drawers, until crouching to reach the bottom one. She brought her cheek to her shoulder to keep the phone in place whilst using her hands to flick quickly through the files, finally reaching 'V'.

'Gotcha!' She hissed, closing the drawer and taking the phone back in her hand.

'You got it?! Yes Pipes! Mission accomplished.' She could picture Alex's face right now, an 'I told you so' look accompanied by an eyebrow raised. This had been Alex's idea, after all. They needed this file to get information on the exact business deal they were supposed to be stopping from going through. Piper tiptoed swiftly out the office, being sure she hadn't moved anything out of place, and raced up the stairs. It felt so good to have done it, because although it looked like she only had a few papers in her hand, it meant so much more. For some reason adrenalin ran through her veins, and she knew that was pathetic but this was the first time Piper had done anything risky or even against her parents word. She had Alex to thank for this feeling.

'Right, I'm coming over.'

'What?!' Piper's eyes widened with shock, as well as feeling that tingly sensation she always felt when the idea of being with her girlfriend entered her head. Of course it would be perfect to have Alex with her right now, sat on her bed, just _being _there. But she knew her mom coming home to be greeted by a Vause in her daughter's bedroom was the last thing she would want to see.

'I'm coming over, to yours. Come on, your dad's away on business for the night, Cal's with friends and your mom's got her gym session as well as the grocery store which should take at least another two hours right? So unless you don't want me to, I'll come round and help you with the email to my Uncle. No way am I letting you do that on your own, you'll stuff up.'

'Jeez, thanks for the confidence in me, Al.' Piper said with attempted sarcasm.

A soothing laugh in response melted her, and she knew she had already given in. Sure, they could go to a café, or to the library. But Piper wanted Alex to see where she lived; she wanted them to hang out like a normal couple would. Not that there was anything normal about their relationship. Piper liked it, but sometimes she did just crave simplicity and, _normal_.

'Fine. But hurry.'

'Aye aye, Captain.' Was all Alex said before she hung up, and 5 minutes later after pacing up and down the hallway, her brunette girlfriend appeared at the front door, only knocking once before Piper eagerly yanked open the door and pulled her in by the arm.

'Did anybody see you?'

'Nice to see you too, Piper.' Alex smirked. She looked so beautiful. She always does. Piper remembered the time she used to be a bundle of nerves every single time she saw Alex Vause, wondering how to even formulate a single sentence in her presence. Now everything was just so comfortable, so easy – well, as easy as it could get.

'Aleeex. You know what I mean' She whined, drawing her girlfriend into a lazy embrace.

She inhaled the strong smell of smoke and perfume that stuck to her leather jacket, smiling because it was just distinctly _Alex_. Sometimes Piper felt like she could never get physically close enough to Alex, she would always want to be closer even though that was impossible.

'No, nobody saw me, kid. I'm a pro at keeping on the down low. Besides, with this hat on, I don't get any second glances.' She took off a woolly black beanie and pulled it onto her girlfriend's head, who chuckled in response as it covered her eyes. 'Now…do I get a kiss?'

Piper pushed the beanie just so it didn't cover her eyes and looked up into the evergreen irises that stared back at her. As usual, those eyes immediately caused her to curl her mouth into a smile and she brought their lips together, kissing her repeatedly.

'Mm, I could kiss you all day, but we've gotta get this done.' Alex bit her lip, restraining herself from launching at Piper whilst they were alone in this huge empty house. She nodded towards the stairs assuming her girlfriend's room would be on the next floor.

Piper sighed, beckoning Alex to follow and as she did, her observant eyes wandered round the house, taking it all in. It was so different from her own cramped townhouse (obviously). It screamed upper class, money, and white picket fence-type lifestyle. It was so spacious; she chuckled, imagining her Uncle Jack making a comment like 'you could play a baseball game in their bathroom.' The Chapmans had gone for a white theme; white walls, white furniture, white paint and pale sandalwood floors. Perfect family portraits of different sizes hung on the wall all the way up the stairs, and Alex searched each one to pick out Piper's beautiful face at different ages. A massive window in the shape of a hexagon faced them as they reached the top of the stairs, allowing the sun to spill across the wooden floor, and onto Piper's golden hair. Piper had caught her attention again. Alex could never pay attention to much else whilst they were in the room together.

Piper began typing on her laptop to log in, whilst Alex hovered around, exploring her girlfriend's crazily tidy bedroom. She picked up and put down objects, ran her hand along bookshelves, noticing certain titles of famous novels.

Piper watched her then, saw how she seemed so fascinated. She didn't want to stop her, she could watch her all day, but they had to hurry if they were going to have their plan work.

'Hey, you. Nosy. Get over here.' She smiled, patting a place on the bed next to her.

'I'm not being nosy, I'm…observing.'

Piper laughed softly and kissed Alex on the nose as she sat down beside her. 'Now are you going to write this email or am I?'

'Give it here.' Alex snatched the laptop playfully, nudging her girlfriend's shoulder with her own. She pushed her glasses up her nose and her eyes became quickly fixed to the screen. Serious, straight to business Alex had kicked in.

'Let me read the file you just took.' Piper handed Alex the file and they sat in silence for a few moments as they read over it.

'If I email my Uncle as if I'm someone from the council, we might have to also get into your dad's emails to actually cancel the deal.'

Piper scrunched her face in confusion. 'Hmm, Al, I dunno…that seems a bit much. Surely after reading this email, your Uncle will approach my Dad to question him. He doesn't seem like the type of person who will just accept it.'

'True. But that means, like you said the other day, we will have to intervene. If my Uncle does confront your Dad about it, that's when we step in. We don't want them having another fight.'

'Yeah, exactly. Alex this is the only thing we can do to get their attention. And then hopefully they'll see how much we…how much we wanna be together.' Alex looked into her blue eyes, they seemed so full of hope. She placed a warm hand on top of hers and gave her a comforting smile.

'They will Pipes. I promise you. No one is going to take you away from me okay? No one.' Piper's smile lit her face up again, the one Alex had been waiting to see. That's what she needed to hear, because she relied so much on Alex, almost too much. Everything in her world right now was consumed by Alex and words like that were what kept her going when she felt like the world was giving up on her. This was their best chance.

'Okay, so earlier I created an email that vaguely looks like a council office email. I don't think my Uncle will find it suspicious.'

'Well it's all we've got…we can only try.'

The brunette raised the corner of her mouth, glancing back at her girlfriend who now lay across the bed on her back, feet resting on Alex's crossed legs. Seeing someone so comfortable with her, so trusting of her, made Alex so determined not to fuck this up. For once in her life, she actually had a purpose for breaking the rules, she had something to fight for, and that was Piper.

10 minutes passed and Alex tapped Piper's thigh, her eyes still focused on the email she had just composed, reading it over and over in her head.

'Pipes.' The blonde sat up and rested her chin on Alex's shoulder from behind.

'So how's this - Dear Mr Vause, I am writing to you on behalf of the Council in regards to the recent offer made on your garage '_Vause Motors'. _This business deal is no longer moving forward, due to Mr Chapman's decision to withdraw his offer to buy your company building from the council. It is important that you continue to pay the sufficient rent price that the Council requires each month, however no legal action will be required by your lawyer. Kind Regards, Andrew Burke, Head of Council Finance.'

'Andrew Burke?'

'I looked it up.'

'So we're using his real name?'

'Yep. We can't afford to slip up, it's gotta at least seem semi legit, Pipes.'

'I know…it sounds pretty convincing to me. Send it.'

Alex hit the send button. 'And that's…sent.' She shut the laptop lid and moved to face Piper who was kissing her ear.

'You really are amazing Miss Vause.'

'Tell me something I don't know.' Just as she pushed Piper onto her back and straddled the squealing blonde's thighs, moving forward to kiss her neck, the sound of the front door downstairs caused them both to jump up.

'I'm home, Piper!' Carol Chapman chirped.

'Shit!' Piper whispered loudly. She pushed Alex off her and stumbled from the bed towards the door, standing up against it. Alex got up and grabbed Piper's hand to calm her down.

'Don't panic okay!' She whispered.

'Don't panic?! My mom is downstairs Alex!'

'Yes - I am aware of that!' Alex snapped back.

'Piper? Are you home?' Her mom shouted up the stairs. They both bit their lip and shut their eyelids, trying to be as silent as possible. Alex then came up with an idea, punching Piper's shoulder who glared at her with a 'that's not helping' look.

'What?' she mouthed.

'Answer her!' Piper, with her eyes fixed on her girlfriend, did as she said.

'Y…Yes mom, I'm home! I'm just…studying!'

Alex nodded in approval of her generic excuse. 'Right, now go downstairs and distract her. I'll make it for the door and she won't see me.'

'That's your plan?!'

'Can you think of anything better?! Look, make sure she stays in the kitchen or wherever, just as long as she won't be able to see me go down the stairs. Keep her back turned. I'm good at being stealthy, don't worry.'

'Okay. Okay.' Piper closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She turned to open the door, looking back at Alex one last time, who kissed her quickly and then prompted her to make her way downstairs.

'Mom!' Piper picked up a grocery bag that was still by the door and walked into the kitchen, smiling perhaps too widely at her mom.

'You look happy.' Carol looked her up and down, walking back into the hallway to get another bag.

'Um!' Piper quickly followed her mom who turned and saw her daughter come to a halt close behind her, seeing Alex was frozen in her position at the top of the stairs. _Shit._

If she turned around now, the first thing in sight is Alex.

'I'll get those! Why don't you just…go start unpacking the other bags?' She snatched the brown paper bag from her mom.

'Well I've never seen you so eager to help Piper. What happened to your studying?'

'Uh- study break!' Alex grit her teeth and tiptoed down the stairs like she was walking on thin ice.

Piper's mom noticed her daughter's eyes wandering past her shoulder, and following her line of sight, went to turn round. Quickly, Piper did the first thing that came to her head; dropped the bag on the floor. Her mom jumped at the sound of the items hitting the floor. 'Oh Piper! You silly girl! The eggs better not be in that one!'

'Oop! Silly me, sorry mom!' As Carol bent down to pick up the groceries that had fallen out the bag, Piper gave a thumb up to her girlfriend who managed to slip out the door quietly with a wink.

'Aren't you gonna help me?'

Piper sighed with relief, wiping clammy hands on her jeans again. 'Yep! Yep, sorry mom.'

She could only pray that this plan would work. She _needed_ it to work. Just like she needed to be with Alex, all the time. She was sure of that.

* * *

**Not sure what I think of this chapter haha, its probably a bit far fetched but it was the best I could come up with for the situation they were in lol, and I'm trying to keep this fic interesting and I feel like it's gone a bit downhill but oh well haha. Anyway review and let me know what you thought, thank you so much for the positive comments so far! H xo**


	13. Chapter 13

**Hey guys, it's been a longggg time since I last updated and i'm so sorry! I've been so busy with uni and exams, but I hate leaving things unfinished and I have definitely not finished this story. I'm going to do a few short chapters because i'm still figuring out where i'm going with it and I just want to update but there's still a bit more to go! Also, FRIDAY 12TH! So fking excited, the trailer killed me. Anyway, hope you enjoy this awfully short chapter, sorry about that! H xo**

**Chapter 12 – Chapman Porch**

'I knew something wasn't right. _Knew _it. Alex you better explain yourself and you better do it now.' Jack Vause's face was reddened and his forehead bunched into a serious frown as he pointed a finger towards his silent niece, a thousand excuses racing through her head that just wouldn't process fast enough to fall from her mouth.

'Alex!' He shouted again impatiently, causing her to jolt her head up and finally look him in the eyes, an evergreen colour that every Vause possessed.

'Okay.' She mumbled under her breath, barely audible, her hands buried as deep in her jacket pockets as they could possibly go.

'Okay what?'

'I'll explain, alright? Just don't tell Mom. Please, Uncle Jack. I want to tell her myself, but I'm not ready to tell her just yet.'

Jack slowly relaxed his tensed shoulders and sat down on the stair next to her. The house was empty, yet full of awkward silence. She knew Jack would always be there for her, but she never wanted to let him down. She was scared. He was the only important man in her life, the only man that gave a damn about her. He was practically her father. But she wasn't going to lie to him, not about this. If this was just about another girl, just another one night stand or fling to make her feel like she was in control, then Jack would not hear a word about it. They wouldn't be sitting here having this conversation that Alex dreaded more than anything and that she was desperate to be over with. But this wasn't just another girl, this was Piper. The only person she had ever fallen in love with, the only person whose touch she constantly craved.

Reluctantly, Alex began explaining. She and Piper had sent the email. Alex had watched her confused Uncle receive the email at 9 in the morning. She had followed him straight to the Chapman's porch, watched helplessly as he thumped his large fist against the door. She had watched an equally confused Bill Chapman open the door only to be interrogated with questions he couldn't answer. Piper had appeared by his side, immediately locking eyes with Alex and a look that said; _do we say something? _Without another thought, Alex had grabbed Piper's hand, pulling her close, and with all the courage she could gather, she had raised her voice above the bickering men, seizing their attention. Their eyes had clocked the intertwined hands of the girls. With a face like thunder, Jack had taken his niece by the shoulder and led her back into the car, and she didn't put up a fight. It all happened so quickly that Alex still hadn't come up with the words to say, even on the car journey home. She knew Piper would be equally as lost for words, possibly even worse off due to the fact that her family weren't exactly proud supporters of the LGBT community, but they needed to deal with their own families. They needed to be together.

'_We_ did it. _We_ sent the email.' Alex closed her eyes and held her breath, hoping she could just disappear from the room or become invisible, anything that meant her Uncle couldn't see how vulnerable she felt right now. As she expected, there was no response. Silence.

What felt like hours later, her Uncle finally exhaled a heavy sigh.

'Why Alex? Why would ya do something like that? It's not your place to get involved in my business.'

Alex raised her eyebrows. Was this reverse psychology? Surely the fact that Alex had gotten 'involved' in his business was not the reason they were having this conversation. It was because of the hand she was holding so tightly on the porch of the Chapman's house just 20 minutes ago.

'Uncle Jack.' Her voice was huskier than ever now, fighting back tears. Her lips trembled and her clammy hands shook as she rubbed them against her jeans.

'I'm in love with her.'

Immediately after those words, Alex wanted nothing more than to bury her head into her hands and cry, with relief or fear she didn't know, but all she knew was that she felt emotional as hell right now and that she could not face her Uncle. She had never announced her feelings for Piper to anyone else but Piper. Alex felt like she needed to throw things, punch things, and cry. Her hot headedness was an inevitable Vause trait. When feelings they couldn't control built up, they had to let it out in any way they could. But Alex didn't bury her face. She took off her glasses, wiped any tears that threatened to leave her eyes with her hoodie sleeve, and turned straight to her Uncle, who was clearly taking in the words she had just spoken. He stood up, and without a word, held out his arms, hugging her to his warm body. Relief washed over her entire being like a tidal wave, her stomach dropping, shoulders falling and knees weakening, uncontrollable tears flooding down her hot cheeks. His reaction was not half of what she had expected, yet she couldn't help but feel strangely over emotional.

'Oh, Alex. Come on, come on now. Don't cry, Al.' He squeezed her tighter and rubbed her back, she knew he hated seeing her upset. After several minutes of simply comforting his niece and most probably trying to think of the right way to handle this without leaving it to his sister, Jack spoke again. 'Listen kid. I love you, and I'm not going to stand here and watch you cry like that.' He released her from his grip but kept his hands tightly on her shoulders as if he knew she felt weak. 'You love her. That's all I need to know. You don't have to explain anything to me, you don't have to tell me why or how or when. Because we can't help who we fall for. Sure, it's damn unlucky that it's a Chapman.' He chuckled and nudged her slightly in attempt to get her to laugh. Alex raised the corner of her mouth for a few seconds, adjusting the glasses that were now back on her nose.

'Does she make you happy?' His tone of voice turned serious again as he studied his niece's facial expression.

'Yes Uncle Jack…stupidly happy.'

'Right, well that's that then. I want to meet her. See what the fuss is all about.'

Alex's draw dropped. _What the fuck. _This was the last thing on earth she had ever expected. Just the acknowledgment of Piper being in her life would have been enough. But this? It was too good to be true. It was probably a shock and she knew it wasn't easy for him to accept, but her Uncle had never lied to her in his life. All of a sudden, she couldn't stop smiling. But then she thought of Piper, and she wasn't so sure how to feel. How were her parents dealing with this news? Were they even talking about it at all, or pretending it hadn't happened like Piper said they always did? Alex couldn't help but feel slight guilt over the way she had wordlessly announced their relationship in front of Piper's dad without asking her how she felt about it first.

'Give her a call. Tell her to come round sometime…it's probably best if I meet her first. We can tell your Mom together, if you like.' Alex smiled with appreciation, and her Uncle smiled back with a nod, before turning and walking up the stairs. Her phone buzzed in her back pocket, and after pulling it out she blinked a few times so her tear filled eyes could adjust to the screen.

**Pipes: Run away with me?**

_Fuck. _What did this mean?

'Shit, shit, shit.' Alex could tell just from a single text that Piper needed her. Of course Alex wanted to run away with Piper, she wanted nothing more than to be on some beach in Tahiti with her, with no worries or cares in the world except each other. But that wasn't an option anymore, Alex often ran away from her problems and she knew Piper was the same. This time they were going to face their problems together and no matter what it took, she was determined to convince anyone that they were right for each other.

**Alex: Let me come over.**

* * *

**Leave a review to let me know what you thought or just to say hi :) Who's excited for season 3?! H xo**


	14. Chapter 14

Here's the update! It's short I know, but hope you enjoy :) H xo

* * *

**Chapter 14 - If you cry, I'll cry**

As Alex arrived outside the Chapman household, the sky had become darker with clouds that heavily filled with rain, the air humid and somehow suffocating as she lingered on the freshly cut lawn, unsure whether to take another step. She inhaled the smell of damp grass, stringing sentences together in her head that might appeal to Bill and Carol Chapman, and although they sounded viable in her head, she was sure they would do nothing for her in reality. Just as she was about to give Piper another call after 5 times of her not picking up, the blonde appeared from round the side of the house, taking her girlfriend by surprise. Her cerulean eyes were red and puffy round the edges from crying, strands of hair stuck to her face that was drained of her usual glow. Alex immediately rushed to her side and pushed the blonde strands behind Piper's ears, before tracing fingers across her hot cheeks.

'Pipes…what-' she whispered softly, but before she could continue and ask why Piper hadn't used the front door, she was smothered with a hug and a quiet whine in her ear indicated just how upset her girlfriend was. Piper was leaning into Alex so forcibly that she was stepping backwards, although keeping tight hold of the vulnerable shaking body that she wrapped her arms around.

'Pipes, don't cry okay. I'm here.' She kissed the top of her head. 'If you cry, I'll cry, and I don't wanna ruin my eyeliner. I literally just put it on.' Piper pulled back just so that her nose was touching Alex's, and so that she could look into her comforting green eyes.

'Alex' she breathed, a look of sheer hopelessness strewn on her face.

'I'm sorry, you're not in the mood to banter. I guess I'm just nervous as fuck. How did they…'

'Can we go? Let's just go.'

Piper quickly walked back round the side of the house and reappeared with a rucksack on her back, causing Alex to stop in her tracks and hold up her hand.

'Woah, woah. A rucksack? I know we talk about running away together but I don't think this is a good time to up sticks and leave Piper.'

Piper froze, her shoulders dropping in disappointment. 'I know…I know. It's stupid. Can I stay with you? Somewhere, anywhere. If I'm not welcome at yours, I'm sure Nicky will-'

'-Pipes, my Uncle was fine with it. He was so understanding, it's unreal. You know, I think he gave us his blessing.'

Piper gave a slight smile, not showing her beautiful white teeth but it was enough for Alex to throw her a smile back.

'Really? Wow, that's great Al. Really, that's just…fuck. I hate this. Because I can't say the same for my Dad. And I never will be able to. Please, can we just get out of here, I don't wanna be anywhere near him.' She stepped forwards and took Alex's hand again, but Alex remained still on the lawn, pushing her hair back off her face.

'No Piper. I want the same from your parents. Even if it's just one of them. Even if they will actually engage in a conversation with me it will be a fucking breakthrough. We're not gonna run away from this. We're a team remember? We can _do_ this.'

'Alex. You don't get it. You don't.' Piper had begun to raise her voice by this point, catching the brunette slightly off guard. 'I have just had the _worst _argument with my dad about this and I sure as hell do not want to be around for when my mom gets home. There is no way we will get their blessing. You don't know him Alex. As much as I love him he is the furthest thing from an understanding man I will ever know. As long as his business paperwork is filed correctly and we all have a fucking smile on our faces and the picket fence is the right shade of white to match the rest of that prison we call home, he doesn't give a_ fuck_.' Piper spat the last word with so much anger that Alex needed no more persuasion before she stormed towards the porch, up the steps, and was slamming against the door. Realising that her temper was almost bubbling over the surface, she took a few more deep breaths to compose herself. _Calm and collected Alex, calm and collected._

'Alex! What the hell are you doing? Alex! Please Alex what do you think you're doing?' Her calm and soothing tone didn't seem to be grabbing the attention of her girlfriend, so she added a sense of urgency, her head screaming that this was a bad idea. 'Let's go! Baby come on I don't want you saying something you regret, come _on_!' Piper tugged at her girlfriend's jacket, in a desperate attempt to get her to cooperate, searching for an emotion on Alex's face that would predict her next move, but she couldn't read it. Alex's face was completely nonchalant, her eyes keeping fixed on the door as she stood, clearing her throat. She could hear footsteps, and as the door opened, Alex was ready to talk.

* * *

Thank you so much for following and favouriting, and as always, for the reviews! It's so nice to read the comments and see that you guys are enjoying it! Also, I finished season three, all I can say is that it f*cked me up. Haha, will update soon! H xo


	15. Chapter 15

**Hey guys, update! I wrote this all in one go and i haven't read over it thoroughly so sorry if there's any mistakes, will correct them later. Enjoy :) H xo**

* * *

**Chapter 15 – Missing Bill**

Alex swallowed hard, the lump in her throat felt like it had swollen to the size of an apple due to the nerves she couldn't shake. The words ready to pour out of her seemed trapped behind this lump, only to come to a halt completely when a short, slightly chubby blonde boy opened the door, chewing on what looked like a stick of beef jerky. It wasn't what she expected at all because she had prepared herself to give a full blown lecture about how much she loved Piper to Piper's father. She shot a concerned look at Piper, whose surprised eyes were on her brother, Cal.

'Cal? What are you doing here, where's Dad?'

'What do you mean what am I doing here, i've been here all afternoon.' He shrugged his shoulders, continuing to chew on his food. He turned to walk away, but Piper grabbed him before he could leave.

'Hey, Cal! Where's Dad?'

'Oh, he went out.'

Alex noticed Piper's brow furrow in confusion, and hers was just the same.

'What? Where did he go? And when? I didn't see him leave!'

'Ohh yeah, he left after you had that massive shouting match, you were in you room throwing stuff.'

Alex held back what would be an inappropriate laugh, she was slightly amused at how layed back her girlfriend's brother was – the opposite of Piper.

'Cal where is he?'

'I dunno, jeez - he said it was work related.'

'But he's not working today…did he say who with?'

'No, he just said it was important. He seemed pretty weird, like, he was freaking out a bit…what's with the twenty questions anyway? Is this the chick you can't stop getting into fights over?'

He turned his attention to Alex and grinned, who raised the corner of her mouth and nodded in reply to his question. Piper had almost forgotten Alex was standing there, she smiled and slid her hand to fit Alex's proud to introduce her as her girlfriend.

'Yes. Cal, this is my _girlfriend, _Alex. Alex, my brother, Cal.'

'Well it's nice to finally meet you Alex, I wanna say I've heard a lot about you but most of it has been among awkward conversation or arguments at the dinner table. And you're hotter than she made out!' Cal put his hand out for Alex to shake.

'Cal, please.' Piper closed her eyes in embarrassment.

'Oh, really?' Shaking his hand, Alex raised a finely plucked eyebrow and smirked at Piper, who was already blushing. It amused her to see an embarrassed, flushed Piper. It was silent for a few moments, until Piper changed the subject back to Bill. Alex wish she wouldn't, although she wanted to talk to him she was kind of relieved that Cal had answered instead. Besides, she'd wanted to meet him. He wasn't judgemental in the slightest, and she could tell they would get on well.

'Where could he be? Why would he rush off like this for work, when this is his only day off?'

'He didn't say much, but I'll be honest Piper, he seemed kinda worried. I thought he was going to talk to Alex or something, but he ignored my question. He was very…I dunno, preoccupied. He was going to meet someone in particular, I think.'

Alex's face dropped in sudden realisation. Her stomach turned. _Shit. _She remembered that her Uncle had spoken to Mario a few days previously, and Mario had said he wanted to organise a 'meeting' with Bill Chapman this week. It was worth a shot.

'I think I know who. We gotta go Piper.'

* * *

'Is Mario in town?'

'I think so, yes. But he hasn't spoken to Bill, stop stressing out.'

Piper sat at the table in the Vause's living-come-dining-room, tapping her fingers on the surface, looking round the room. She felt reasonably awkward, but she figured that would be the case. This was the first time she had properly been introduced to Alex's Uncle, the man she always talks about, and the situation wasn't exactly ideal. She decided to remain quiet, unless she was spoken to. She watched Alex stand opposite her Uncle, placing her glasses on the top of her head, which definitely meant she wasn't messing around.

'Uncle Jack, he threatened me and then he practically threatened to 'get rid' of Piper's Dad! This is serious. We need to find Mario, _NOW_!' She yelled. It startled Piper, who was beginning to realise just how serious this was. That Mario was just as dangerous and sinister as Alex had made out. Her eyes widened at the words 'get rid of.' Jack simply waved his hand in dismissal, rolling a cigarette in his hands.

'Look, Alex, what makes you so sure Bill is with Mario? Fine, he had no right to threaten you like that. We can't just go around accusing him of things. Sure, he's an old friend of mine but that doesn't mean to say he'll react well to me asking him if he's done something bad to Piper's dad –' he turned to Piper mid-sentence- 'which by the way, Piper, won't happen.' He smiled, looking back down to his half rolled cigarette.

'You don't know that. He's dangerous, you've told me before. As much as he is a controlling, snobby, yuppie asshole, _he_ is Piper's father. And I love Piper, Uncle Jack. So I can't let anything happen to him.'

Piper smiled at that. She couldn't disagree with the names Alex had just associated her father with, and it made her happy to hear she was willing to protect a man she if not hated, strongly disliked. That was one of the things she loved about Alex. She was loyal, protective, and fair.

'Look...I know you do. And as much as I support it I'm not ready to become best buddies with the Chapmans. To be honest we never will be, even if we tried. Bill can look after himself.' After a few clicks of his lighter, he lit his cigarette, leaning across Piper to tap it over the ashtray.

Alex lowered her voice so it was softer, clearly not getting through to him by shouting. She knew he would eventually do what she wanted, it just took time, which they were running out of if Bill _was _with Mario.

'Uncle Jack, please. Could you at least go and see Mario and tell him to drop this whole vendetta against them. I know our families will never get along but for the sake of Piper and I it would be really great if there was no violence or blackmailing going on between you. I just want peace. Just for you to be civil. Is that too much to ask?'

'Peace? Be Civil? This is Bill Chapman were talking about here!' Jack raised his voice, stubbing out his cigarette in the ashtray, exhaling a last puff of smoke.

'I'm not asking you to go for a beer and a fucking round of golf with him, Uncle Jack.'

He held his hands in the air, finally defeated. 'Okay! Okay. Fine, I will go now and talk to Mario if it'll get you off my back.' He grabbed his jacket from the back of the door, picking up his keys. Alex was already beaming, and she raised an eyebrow at Piper who was smiling just as much. 'But I can only talk to him, that man does what he wants. And you two...just stay here.'

'_Thank you_. Actually, we were gonna come w-' She stepped forward and Piper stood up, but he held his hand out to stop them. The fact that he was adamant that they stay behind confirmed to Piper that Mario was a dangerous man.

'Hey, Just stay here. You keep your end of the deal, I'll keep mine. Stay and wait for your Mom to come home. Tell her where I am.'

'But-' Her words were interrupted with a look on Jack's face that told her to shut up. He smiled at Piper, and left.

'What do we do now?' Piper asked, relying on Alex to make the next move.

'We wait.'

* * *

The clock ticked so loudly that Piper wanted to cover her ears. Tension hung heavily in the air, and she stabbed at her food with the fork in her hand. Piper wasn't hungry, but she didn't want to be rude, so took another mouthful. She looked up at Alex, whose eyes were fixed on her.

'This is delicious, .'

'Call me Diane.' Diane forced a smile, which disappeared as quickly as it had appeared.

Alex put her cutlery down loudly and leant back, rolling her eyes. She knew her mother would act this way with Piper. But she wanted Piper to know how warm her Mom could actually be, she even imagined them getting along really well, one day. Diane was a lot like her daughter, so why wouldn't they?

'I'll put the TV on.' Diane sighed as she got up and walked over to the television, searching for the controller. After flicking through channels, she eventually settled for some old repeat of a CSI episode.

'Are you girls finished?'

'Y-yes, Diane. Thank you very much.' Piper watched Alex, clenching her fists as Diane took Piper's plate, raising her eyebrows back at the brunette. She knew it was getting to Alex that Diane wasn't being very welcoming, but Piper honestly didn't care. It was what she expected, _more_ than what she expected. The fact that she was sat having lunch with them was something she had never even dreamed of. Diane being slightly awkward and off with her didn't bother her in the slightest. What did bother her though, was that Jack was taking so long. It had been nearly two hours and he still wasn't back, which meant her dad must be with Mario. Otherwise he would've been back by now, telling them there was nothing to worry about.

The silence was too much to bare, and Alex could see Piper was becoming uncomfortable, worried about her dad. So she broke it the only way she knew how- 'What the fuck is taking Uncle Jack so long?'

'Alex, language!' Diane lightly smacked Alex on the head as she took her plate.

'Mom, I'm serious! I swear to God if he's let Mario hurt Bill-'

'Oi.' Diane slammed the plates down on the table. 'Now you listen to me.' She pointed a finger at Alex, who frowned. 'Don't say that about your Uncle. If he thinks it's necessary to stop your Uncle Mario from playing dirty with Bill Chapman, he will.'

'Mario is _not_ my Uncle. He's a cunt.' Alex spoke under her breath, but Diane certainly heard.

'Alexandra!' She shouted, causing Piper to jump in her chair, and her shoulders to become stiff. She wished Alex would stop making things even more awkward than they already were. She shot Alex an angry look, who missed it, too busy engaged in the stupid argument with her Mom.

'I'm sorry Piper, Alex doesn't normally behave like this, she's being very argumentative. You can go home, if you like,' she said, almost patronizingly. Piper stood up, not prepared to protest. But Alex jumped up and was by Piper's side before she could even blink.

'No. She's not going anywhere. And don't talk to her like that. She's my girlfriend, she knows how I behave. She's not some playmate who's come over for a dinner date. She's here because I love her but there's a pointless feud going on between our families so we're trying to end that, and if not at least get your blessing. But it seems I'll have to give my fucking limbs before I get any kind of acceptance from you.' Alex was so wrapped up in yelling at her Mom that she had forgotten to breathe in between sentences. Piper stood speechless, but proud nonetheless of her girlfriend's deliverance.

The room went quiet again, except from the background noise of the television and the ticking of the clock that Piper was sure seemed louder in her head than it actually was. She grasped Alex' hand tightly, fearing Diane's reaction, who stood and stared at the both of them, arms folded. She felt Diane's eyes on her, but kept her own eyes on the ground, squeezing Alex's hand harder and harder.

'It's okay, I can go.' She whispered almost inaudibly.

'No Pipes-' Alex spoke in her girlfriends ear, but Diane walked towards her and put a hand on Piper's shoulder.

'No, Piper.' She hesitated for a few seconds before speaking again. 'I'm sorry. You're welcome to stay.' Piper looked up only to be met by kind eyes, evergreen, just like Alex's. Diane gave a warm smile and she didn't know if it was a Vause thing, but in her head Piper had already forgotten about the way she was acting earlier. She didn't need to say anything, because just that smile was enough to show that she was ready to start accepting Piper being in her daughter's life.

'Thank you, Diane.' She smiled, then shifted her eyes to Alex, who kissed her on the cheek.

'Yeah, thanks, Mom.'

* * *

Another hour and a half had passed. Piper sat on the sofa, her head effortlessly lulled on Alex's shoulder. Alex kept a warm hand on the blonde's thigh, kissing her head now and again, inhaling the scent that was distinctly _Piper._ Diane was concentrating on some reality programme on the TV, but Alex and Piper weren't really watching. It felt perfect, right now, in this moment. They were together, not in hiding, not in an agreed meeting place. They were showing affection to one another, in front of Alex's family. Piper didn't want to leave tonight, and Alex knew that. But as perfect as this felt, they couldn't push the thought out of their heads that the two men they were waiting for weren't going to return.

* * *

**Hope you enjoyed, and let me know what you thought of season 3, if you've finished?! I loved it but also not so sure about certain things. Also remember when Alex and Piper were the main characters lmao. Anyway thanks for the favourites and follows, keep reviewing so I know how i'm going! H xo**


	16. Chapter 16

**Update! Finally, thanks for being patient :) This one is quite different so bare with me! Hope you enjoy it though, sorry if there's mistakes, ive only skimmed it but will check later! H xo**

* * *

**Chapter 16 - Acceptance**

Bill Chapman sat on a wooden stool, and his breathing quickened as he inhaled the overbearing smell of smoke, heavy, thick clouds of it blurring his view of the intimidating figure towering above him. Uncertainty was written on his face, and he had never felt so trapped and helpless, being the powerful businessman everyone knew him as.

'What is it you want?' he said, clearing his throat, dry and hoarse due to inhaling the unfamiliar smoke filled air. Mario's condo was dark and barely furnished, almost empty save for a coffee table, a few stools, a ripped up sofa and an old television that was coated in a layer of dust. He could tell this wasn't Mario's usual living space, it was probably just where he worked. He would have somewhere in the city, most likely moving from place to place to avoid the police.

Mario eyed Bill closely, observing his every move, as though one sudden movement would catch him off guard. Bill had expected there to be a few others, men from his gang or whatever it was that Mario operated, but it was just Mario alone, still holding a significant amount of superiority over the Chapman he despised. It wasn't as though Mario had a particularly legitimate reason to dislike the Chapmans, other than that he was a family friend of the Vauses. Bill had always known who Mario was, he knew that the Vilaggio family had been working with the Vause family since his own grandfather could remember. He also knew that Mario was viscously loyal and would have most likely gotten rid of him if he had half the chance. He was a hateful man and making people 'disappear' was most probably a hobby of his.

As though enjoying his enemy's lower ground, he smiled slyly, and Bill noticed a golden tooth, standing out amongst his real set of a darkened yellow.

After a brief silence, Mario finally spoke. Bill's fears were confirmed when he opened his mouth, arms folded over his broad chest, muscles tensed.

'You think you're better than us?' he laughed, and moving in closer, said, 'think you can take away Jack's business from him? His business that he worked hard for, his money that wasn't served to him on a plate by some distant relative he barely knows?'

Bill flinched and his face reddened in anger, but he surpressed any obvious agitation. 'I work very hard for my money, Mario. Now let's just cut to the point of this. Why did you want to meet me?'

'I see your girl has really taken a liking to our Alexandra. What is it those two get up to, I wonder?' Mario pulled up a stool, before resting his chin on his fists, as if to mock that he was interested in what Bill had to say.

In reaction to his comment, Bill ignored the last sentence, knowing it was said purposely to provoke him. He bowed his head and looked at his hands in his lap, partly in shame. Not because of his daughter's sexual orientation, nor because of her choice in girlfriend. That seemed to have started to sink in a lot quicker for him than for his wife Carol. It was because Piper was his little girl, the one he used to have sit on his knee, who used to look up at him with adoring eyes, who used to grab his leg when she was scared and tell him all her secrets. Now, it was as if she constantly kept him in the dark, and he just wished she had told him how she was feeling. He was certainly concerned by her choice, _typical Piper_, he thought, becoming the rebel. Becoming the girl who turns out the opposite as you raised her. Although this was apparent, Bill was still incredibly proud of Piper, even if he didn't show it enough. Perhaps he should remind her more often. Perhaps the reason she hadn't told him how she was feeling was because she was scared of his reaction, that he would disapprove, and she was right. That's what hurt him the most, that his own daughter was scared of opening up to him.

Something about Piper had always made him aware she would make a decision one day that would surprise everyone. _She takes after me, _he thought_, taking risks that could leave catastrophic consequences behind them_. When she was a little girl, he had cheated on carol with a younger woman, and it had all been swept under the carpet. This was why he was sat in Mario's home at this very moment. Because anything to do with Piper, from now on, he wanted out in the open. He wanted honesty. As much as she could trust him with, at least. He was ashamed of the way he had lashed out at her, made her feel inadequate about who she loved. If she really loved Alex, there was nothing he and Carol could do, he knew that deep down. Because Piper was his daughter, she was strong, stubborn, and loving. He did not want to push her away any further than he already had.

'Yes.' He raised his head, and stated his answer boldly. 'Yes, she has. But i don't see how that has anything to do with you or I.' He brushed back a few hairs that had stuck to his forehead with sweat, and stood up, adjusting the collar of his polo shirt - ready to leave - only to be halted by a loud slam on the table from Mario's fist.

'Sit down!' he yelled with unnecessary anger, and then with a softer tone, said, 'we're not finished yet.'

Bill reluctantly stepped back with his hands raised in a hope to keep this man calm, and sat down again, only this time he was on the edge of the seat. He looked everywhere but at Mario, trying desperately not to show fear of this man whom he knew was dangerous and probably had a few guns hidden in the room they currently sat in.

Out of nowhere, a loud, continuous ramming on the door startled the both of them. Mario looked to the door then back at Bill, remaining seated, but as it got louder, he stood up and pointed at him. 'You stay here.'

Before he had barely opened the door, a serious faced Jack Vause pushed through and walked straight over to Bill Chapman.

'You need to come with me.' Bill raised his eyebrows, surprised to see Jack in such a rush to go with him, and worry setting in as he suddenly thought of Piper. Jack was not messing around.

'I don't think so.' Mario replied, standing like a bodyguard in front of the door. Jack rolled his eyes and sighed heavily, clearly tired of Mario poking his nose where he was not needed.

'Mario, please. I don't need you to lecture him, or to threaten him. This is between mine and Bill's family.'

This remark angered Mario further, who stepped forward, narrowing his eyes.

'What? You mean to say, after all i've done for you, after all my family has done for you-'

'Leave it out Mario. You need to leave the Chapmans _alone_ now. It's _my_ business, Alex is my-'

'Your niece. Yeah.' Mario cut in. 'She's not your daughter, Jack. Maybe you should quit acting like it. You know, i'm sick of the overprotective father act.' He laughed smugly, and Jack whipped around, clearly a lot more than frustrated now.

Bill remained silent, watching cautiously from his stool, unsure whether he should prepare for a fight to break out, or whether these arguments occurred a lot between them.

'Enough Mario. That's enough.' He raised his voice now. 'Alex is exactly like a daughter to me, hell, i've raised her since she was a little kid, a new born in fact. Her dad didn't stick around because he was a lowlife asshole. He didn't want to be her father, so i stepped in. Who do you think you are to her? You call yourself 'uncle Mario', but you're not her uncle, and she's never liked you anyway, so why dont you just fuck off?' he turned back to Bill, forehead wrinkled into a deep frown, shoulders tensed up as if he'd been ready to grab Mario by his neck.

'We're leaving now.' Is all he said, and Bill, without saying a word, stood up and followed Vause to the front door. He was surprised Mario hadn't said or done anything to retaliate, but he thought too soon, as Mario's fist came out of nowhere and swung for Jack's jaw, catching it with a loud smack. It pushed him forcefully into Bill, who stumbled aback, but managed to catch him by his arms before he could hit the ground. Looking down at Jack Vause, seeing him so vulnerable, would have been somewhat entertaining for Bill Chapman before. But that was before he had seen a Vause saving him from a dangerous situation. Seeing Jack in his arms, he thought of Piper. Piper, who is absolutely unconditionally in love with this man's niece, whom he loves like his own. Piper would be proud of her dad to see him putting himself in danger for Alex's uncle. So Bill wasn't about to let Mario win.

He lifted Jack up, who then bounced off him and piled into Mario, shoving him against the door, his fists tightly scrunching the fabric of Mario's t-shirt around his neck. Bill didn't think of Jack as physically confrontational, and assumed it took a lot for him to become so. He then spoke calmly and almost too quietly for Bill to be in earshot.

'Listen. I'm not gonna fight with ya, Maz. You know why? Because this is not worth it. You're being an arrogant bastard and i don't know what youre tryna prove. But remember that you do _my_ family's work. Let's keep it that way. You're wasting my time. Now _move.'_ The last word was emphasised with force as he almost threw Mario to the floor, ushering Bill to follow him through the door without another word. Bill passed Mario and looked down at him, who sat up, his face in complete shock as his eyes followed the man who had just confronted him, confirming Bill Chapman's assumption that Jack isn't a violent man. But he is good with his words, and it suddenly occurred to Bill that Mario certainly would not bother him again. Jack had an authority over him that must come from pure family hierarchy. Jack had just saved him from something that could've turned very ugly very quickly.

* * *

The two of them sat in the car in silence. Jack kept his eyes on the road, one hand on the wheel. Bill watched out the window, not really watching, but waiting for Jack to speak, to explain why they were in a car together. It wasn't going to happen, so he decided to at least try to melt the icy tension that filled the car.

'Is Piper okay?'

'She's fine.' Jack mumbled.

'Why did you come over in such a rush? how did you know i was with Mario?'

'Piper and Alex were looking for you. They wanted to speak to you, for you to come around i guess. When they got worried, they came to me, said you'd gone to meet some one on your day off. I just had a feeling. He'd been talking to me about you, throwing stupid comments around about stopping you. It was Alex, who wanted me to go and get you, to get Mario off your back.'

_Alex? the one person i thought must despise me the most, for wanting to keep Piper from her. She knew I was in danger. She saved me. She could have just not mentioned it to him, but she did. _That was when Bill Chapman began to realise that Alex must truly love his daughter. And he admired her for that.

He nodded to show appreciation, before picking up on something else Jack had said. 'Comments about stopping me? stopping me from what?' he asked.

'You know, from taking my business, the garage. But what he didn't realise was that...'

'...Was that it was the girls idea.'

Both men went silent after Bill finished the sentence. It was the first time they had ever spoken about Alex and Piper with each other, let alone about them being _together_.

Jack finally spoke again. 'Yeah. i'm sorry about him, Chapman. Genuinely. I never asked him to get involved in this. He's jealous of me, of my family. And he definitely has a thing for Diane, god i've always known it.'

Bill cracked a smile for a few seconds before quickly remembering who he was with, but Jack saw it. He knew it would be easier for them to become friends, to laugh together. It wouldn't happen, but at least they could perhaps begin to accept that Alex and Piper were in love.

'So what are we gonna do about the girls?'

'I don't know if theres much we can do...ground them, i don't know.'

Jack chuckled to himself. 'Not about that.'

'Oh...' Bill turned towards the window again, blushing slightly, still new to the idea of Piper being with a girl, being with Alex. It hurt his pride, but he knew that was something he needed to get over.

'We can figure it out. I guess we eventually have to let them be.' Jack said. They're not kids anymore, Bill. And that's something i know you're finding hard to accept just as much as I am.'

Bill didn't know how Jack was so good at looking through people. He cleared his throat and hesitated before he spoke. 'Yes. I know. I'm just finding it difficult, this whole idea of standing back, from your parenting role and all.'

'No, you can still be a parent. But it's not so much about controlling their behaviour anymore, about guiding them up the road you want them to take. It's about just being there for them, giving them advice when they need it, being there when they need you the most.'

Those words stung Bill Chapman, he never thought he would hear them come out of Jack Vause's mouth. So sensitive, yet put so matter of factly. He knew he was damn right, but he wasn't going to ask for Jack to give him any more parenting pointers, they weren't quite comfortable enough with each other yet. Instead, he swallowed his pride with a nod, and then changed the subject.

'I'm sorry for Piper interfering with this garage business, I had no idea.'

'No, Alex can take just as much of the blame. She can be too clever for her own good sometimes.'

Jack pulled up outside the Vause household, _that's where Piper must be._

'So can Piper.' He added.

'Made for each other, eh?'

In that moment, Jack and Bill caught each other's eye, and smiled. Was it a breakthrough? Maybe.

But one thing was for certain, they now did have one thing in common; their girls. And they knew they owed it to their girls to accept them, and to love them exactly for who they were.

* * *

**So I know there was no vauseman but i feel like this was an important chapter and in the show we hardly know bill but i feel like he's a softer man beneath all his pride lol, anyway let me know what you thought :) update around next week bc im on holiday and the plan for next chapters on my laptop! H xo**


	17. Chapter 17

Hey guys, i'm so so sorry for how long its taken me to update, idk what's wrong with me, i've been on holiday but other than that i dont have much of an excuse. Anyway, forgive me and I hope you enjoy! H xo

* * *

**Chapter 17 - Sorry**

Another hour and a half had passed. Piper sat on the sofa, her head effortlessly lulled on Alex's shoulder, and Alex kept a warm hand on the blonde's thigh, kissing her head now and again, inhaling the scent that was distinctly _Piper._ Diane was concentrating on some reality programme on the TV, but Alex and Piper weren't really watching. It felt perfect, right now, in this moment. They were together, not in hiding, not in an agreed meeting place. They were showing affection to one another, in front of Alex's family. Piper didn't want to leave tonight, and Alex knew that. But as perfect as this felt, they couldn't push the thought out of their heads that the two men they were waiting for weren't going to return.

* * *

Alex couldn't sit still as she impatiently watched the clock. Piper's eyelids were becoming heavy, but she couldn't find a comfortable position to sleep in due to her girlfriend's constant fidgeting and movement. She glanced down at Alex's hands, palms rubbing against her jeans, and Piper placed her hands over them, bringing her fidgeting to a halt.

'Hey.' she whispered, feeling the brunette's anxiety, looking up at the green eyes she loved that focused on the clock still.

'What's taking him so long?' Alex groaned quietly. Piper sighed and sat up, taking Alex's pale face in her hands.

She studied the beautiful face, now able to read its emotion so perfectly. Her blue eyes widened as they stared straight into the green ones opposite. 'Listen to me, you need to stop worrying. Your uncle is a strong, careful man. He'll be here. I know it. Kay?' She smiled wearily, tiredness overwhelming her, and softly kissed Alex's lips who nodded and forced a smile, pulling Piper into her shoulder once again. She wanted to always be able protect her, which entailed her being the stronger one. So if that meant pretending she wasn't worried about her uncle's whereabouts, then that's what she would do. Anyway, she knew deep down Piper was right. Jack always knew the best way to handle situations, he had years of experience in dealing with Mario and with people like him. It was perhaps the fact that this particular situation involved Mario _and _Bill Chapman that made her feel somewhat nervous. _Pull yourself together_.

* * *

10 minutes had barely passed. Piper had fallen asleep in that time, but Alex couldn't even shut her eyes. She continued to stare blankly at the TV, occasionally eyeing the clock. Her mom was dropping off too, it couldn't be long now, surely.

The sound of the door unlocking caused her to whip her head round and stand up faster than she should have, abruptly waking her girlfriend. Piper rubbed her eyes and turned to see Jack and her father at the door. It wasn't a sight she had ever expected to see. Her dad had _willingly_ stepped foot into the Vause household. She smiled as she watched her relieved girlfriend hug Jack tightly, and she too wrapped her arms around her dad.

'Took you long enough.' Diane raised her eyebrows, arms folded. 'Mario?'

'Yep.' Jack sighed, and looked to Bill, who simply nodded.

'Listen, Jack, thanks again. I don't know how that meeting would have gone if you hadn't intervened.' He put his hand out, and Jack pulled one hand out his pocket to shake it.

'It's not a problem. I feel responsible for Mario. I always have I guess, he never knows when to stop and keep his mouth shut.' Jack patted Alex on the shoulder, 'I don't think he'll be in contact with us anytime soon.'

'I've never liked him much anyway.' Diane shrugged.

'Best news I've heard all day.' Alex smirked at Piper, taking her hand and squeezing it.

There were a few moments of silence as the five of them adjusted to the current situation. They were stood in a circle by the door, and for once, Alex and Piper could sense that everyone felt at ease.

Bill cleared his throat. 'Well, thank you, Diane, for letting Piper stay. We best be off now.'

'Course, any time.' She grinned at Piper.

'Thank you, Mrs – Diane.' She mirrored Diane's confirming nod as she corrected herself.

'Yes, not a problem Piper.' Diane chuckled.

Bill edged out the door, thanking Jack again, and Alex took the opportunity to pull the blonde in for a hug and as she did so, she whispered in her ear, 'We did it,' and kissed her head. Piper's face lit up as she reluctantly let go of her girlfriend's hand and walked out the door. They _had _done it. Somehow, they had made what they thought was impossible, happen. Bill and Jack had spent time with one another, and though it wasn't much, it was a step forward.

* * *

On the way home, Piper thought of ways to ask her dad what had gone on, what he and Jack had spoken about - if they had even spoken at all. But from what she had seen when they stood at that door, there was a feeling of mutual appreciation, of contentment. Bill didn't say much on the journey home, but when he stopped the car in the drive, he was hesitant to get out of the car as Piper began to. Noticing something was wrong, she sat back in her seat and saw that his head was slightly bowed, as though deep in thought.

'Dad? Are you okay?'

He looked up at her and she saw what looked like sadness and disappointment in his eyes. 'Piper. I need to apologise to you. For not always being the father you deserve.'

'Dad-' Piper interrupted, not wanting to hear him say that, even if she did deserve an apology. She had no idea where this was coming from. There was something about his pride that she admired, and she didn't know whether it was because she hated seeing him vulnerable, or because she wasn't used to it at all, that made her feel uncomfortable.

'-Just let me finish. Now it may not always seem like it, but I love you. I am so proud of you, Piper. I don't show it enough. I've let family traditions and personal rivalries get in the way of my relationship with you, and even with your brother. I only want the best for you. It hurts me to see you keeping secrets from me, hiding your relationship with Alex from me. But I know exactly why you did it and I completely understand. But it's...it's made me realise that I need to try harder at being, you know, an understanding dad. And so I want to start by saying that you can have Alex round whenever you want to. You don't need to hide her from your mother and I. And, I'm going to try and end this ridiculous rivalry with the Vause family. It was you and Alex that helped me understand how petty it is. We'll never be the best of friends, but, I'll hold my tongue from now on and I'm going to withdraw my offer on the garage. He's a decent man, and he just wants the best for his niece. Just like I want for my daughter.'

Piper felt a hot tear run down her cheek, as she held her dad's hands tight. She had never been so overwhelmed with a wave of different emotions. She was so happy, shocked, unbelievably grateful, and proud. She was proud of her dad, because she knew how much courage it would have taken him, a man so proud and insensitive on the exterior, to say those words to her. All she could do was put her arms around him, breathlessly repeat the word 'thankyou' over and over, and cry.

* * *

Sorry for the shortness of this one I just wanted to get it updated, but I hope it was alright.

One more thing, I wanna say thank you so much to every single person who has been leaving such sweet reviews on this story. (Specifically those who always read and comment on almost every / every chapter; moanzs, FFChik, sweetlikevanillais, Chand3li3r) and thank you to jo michael for the lovely comment on my last chapter about the parents!

You all make me smile because it's just so nice to think that some one has taken the time to read my writing and then actually left a comment :) So I am already working on the next chapter which may or may not possibly be the last one...i dunnoo! We'll see ;) H xo


	18. Chapter 18

**Hey guys, sorry for any mistakes i kinda rushed this chapter. Also I left an author's note at the bottom which is just about a previous comment I had about this story. If you can't be bothered to read it don't worry I just had to add it for my own sanity! H xo**

* * *

**Chapter 18 - Sneaking out**

The moonlight spilled through the window adjacent to the front door and hit Alex's porcelain face, as she quietly unlocked the door. She was wearing what she typically wore for bed, a black guns and roses vest top and an old pair of grey athletic shorts. She smiled to herself as she knew who was on the other side of the door, and a tingling feeling appeared deep in her stomach, probably because she knew they were doing something they shouldn't be. There Piper stood also smiling, hair up in a ponytail, a cropped pyjama vest top and matching shorts, the moonlight making her skin look even paler. God she was so irresistible. Without words, Alex pulled her in, and closed the door softly. They kissed, both so gentle and cautiously, quietly giggling as they tip toed up the stairs together.

They'd made it behind closed doors in Alex's bedroom, and they both lay facing one another under the sheets. Although pitch black, they could make out the outlines of one another, and they simply lay silently for a while, making out where each other's cheekbones were in the dark; jawlines, shoulders, arms, hips. Piper shuffled closer so that their noses touched, and wrapped her leg round her girlfriend, so that one of her knees rested on Alex's waist line, just to feel closer to her. Alex stroked Piper's cheek and brought her hand down to her hip, keeping it there. They could feel one another's breathing, and that was all they could hear, too. It was bliss. Finally, Piper spoke.

She whispered, 'So yeah, I hope you're proud of me. I snuck out.' They both laughed quietly. 'I don't think my parents were quite ready for me sleeping round yours. I'm pretty sure they think that being a lesbian makes me a sex crazed monster.' As she said that, she brought her hand down to Alex's ass, and squeezed it, causing her to laugh a little too loudly.

'You know…maybe you should live up to that label.'

Piper giggled, 'Maybe I will. But we both know we don't do quiet sex.'

'True. But you know I love challenges.'

Piper could sense Alex's classic smirk and raising of the eyebrow. So she made the first move, crashing their lips together, the most passionate way she knew how.

They kissed for hours, touching and exploring each other's bodies. They did it silently, the only sounds were a few gasps or the heavy breathing they both omitted.

Alex traced her fingers lightly in circles round Piper's ribs, up to her neck, down her throat, whilst planting kisses on every inch of her legs, her face, and her breasts, causing Piper to shiver and for goose bumps to appear all over her body. She bit her lip, biting down so hard that it hurt, because she knew she had to supress her moans as the brunette reached her most sensitive area after slowly tugging at her shorts, now kissing it teasingly.

'Aaa- Aaalex' she whispered breathlessly.

'Shhhh…silence, remember?' Alex reached up and placed a hand over Piper's mouth as she finally brought her tongue out and used it the way she knew drove Piper mad.

Although their sex life was usually lust filled and fiery, tonight they had both softened, it was so passionate and every move was done so softly and lovingly. They both knew how deep they were in this, and how in love they were with one another. Piper knew there was nothing Alex wouldn't do for her, and she knew there was nothing she could imagine herself doing without Alex right by her side. Alex knew the same, and that she craved Piper a lot more than she rarely showed. They _needed _each other, they _wanted_ each other, and they _had _each other.

* * *

Alex lay on her side, head in her hand as she watched Piper sleep, the moonlight now replaced by the early morning sunlight that peeked through the curtains. Piper was stirring, and she looked like an angel. Her flawless skin so bright, perfect long eyelashes twitching ever so slightly. It made Alex smile stupidly, and she began stroking Piper's hair gently with her fingertips, not wanting to wake her but not being able to resist touching her either. Piper did wake then, slowly blinking as she adjusted to the light. She noticed Alex watching and brought her wrist over her eyes.

'Hey, don't do that. I was watching you.' Piper loved the sound of Alex's morning voice, even huskier and deeper than its usual tone. _God I wish I could wake up to that sound every single fucking day of my life._

'I hadn't noticed.' Piper smiled, leaning up to kiss her girlfriend, who pulled away playfully before their lips could touch.

'One more second, I just wanna look at you for one more second.' She paused as Piper giggled and fell back onto her pillow, cheeks blushing. 'God you're so beautiful Pipes.'

Piper paused, enjoying the rare, ridiculously sensitive and soft side of Alex.

'Kiss me.' She pulled Alex forcefully on top of her and kissed her till they ran out of breath. After which they couldn't stop laughing, wrestling with one another, kissing and rolling round Alex's bed like puppies.

A distant sound of someone knocking at the front door caused them both to freeze. Alex leant over Piper to pick up her glasses off her night stand, grabbing a hoodie and pulling it on as she got up and walked to her bedroom door. Piper began to panic, pulling her clothes on in a rush, assuming the worst as she often did.

'Pipes, woah, chill. It's probably just the mail man.'

'Are you sure your mom and uncle are at work?'

'Yah. Mom leaves the house at 7:15 sharp, Uncle Jack is out by 8. It's 10am, Piper. They're long gone.' She walked over to Piper and kissed her. 'Besides. It's probably not _my _mom we have to worry about.'

Another knock at the door and Alex disappeared down stairs. Piper rolled her eyes and sighed, falling back onto the bed. Carol Chapman. The most difficult woman to persuade to accept anything that strayed from the boundaries of her conservative bubble. She checked her phone. No missed calls, _yet. _Sometimes she just wished her mom actually had a job to attend to, something far away with 9-5 hours. Instead she spent her time preoccupied with pointless activities, such as grocery shopping, gardening and baking. Attending social events and dates with her friends who wouldn't be her friends if it weren't for their pathetic social circle, created by class and revolved around image and money. When she wasn't doing any of those things, Carol was instead focusing on Piper's life, not as much as she used to now that she was at college, but she'd been a prying mother since Piper could remember. Always pushing her to join every club going, learn every instrument, wear certain dresses, be friends with particular kids. It would be nice for once if her mother would just stop for one second and ask Piper how she was feeling, what she wanted to do, who she wanted to _love._ But the truth was, if it didn't include something her mother wanted it to be, she didn't want to know.

Last night, Carol had been out and returned after Piper had got into bed. She'd waited for her parents to sleep so that she could sneak out to Alex's, and during that time she'd heard them having a heated discussion, and she knew very well that it was about her. She couldn't hear them but knew how it had probably gone; her dad explaining what had happened, how he had discovered that the Vause family aren't half as bad as what they had always believed, and that Alex Vause made their daughter happy. She really admired her dad for trying. Her mom would've been shocked and stunned at the way her dad had handled it, and then made it quite clear that she didn't agree. All in all, Piper had had enough. Having her dad support her was fine, she'd never really cared that her mom didn't always support her and she wasn't about to start caring either.

Piper didn't want to bother Alex with this stuff, although it was weighing heavily on her mind as something she had to go back home to. They'd been through enough yesterday, and she could handle this on her own. She just wanted to spend as much alone time with Alex as she could before she had to face reality again.

After several minutes, Alex appeared at the door. 'The mail man. Like I said.' She spoke smartly, raising an eyebrow and pushing her glasses to the top of her head.

'Well. The house is empty. What ever shall we do now?' Piper asked playfully, laying with her legs explicitly open, beckoning Alex with a finger. Alex pulled her hoodie off and climbed onto the bed.

'Guess this will have to do.' She whispered, before she began repeatedly kissing Piper's face, causing her to break into another fit of laughter.

* * *

**authors note -**

**i'd like to just raise the topic of a comment i received last chapter about this whole story being an 'advocacy of the patriarchy'- because i have strong views on this and i dont want to ignore it incase anyone else agrees with that statement.**

**you're entitled to your opinion, but I think you're wrong or you've misinterpreted. If you have read the WHOLE story you'll see that when its about traditional rivalry and pride &amp; two people in love who are willing to do anything to be together including going behind the backs of their families. Of course, Alex is loyal to her uncle - not because he is a man who she needs to protect her- but because he is an important person in her life whom she loves. The rivalry is the reason alex and piper were being kept apart, and their difference in background. I will add that theres nothing wrong with a fathers protection as its completely natural, but i think with this story ive shown that if it comes at the cost of your daughters happiness you need to change your attitude. I'm certainly not a supporter of the patriarchy thats actually laughable, but yes perhaps I am showing the affect it can have on relationships.**

**Anyway, hope you enjoyed this one! Thanks for the reviews, faves and follows as usual im so grateful! H xo**


End file.
